


You and I'll Be Safe and Sound

by Falloutboi27



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ben lives / never falls, Brother-Sister Relationship, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-typical swearing, Gen, Panic Attacks, Protective!Ben
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2019-12-31 23:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18323819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falloutboi27/pseuds/Falloutboi27
Summary: After the events of Savannah, Ben finds himself the sole caretaker of Clementine. This time though he'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Even if it kills him.





	1. Chapter 1

Ben stiffened as another Walker thumped against the shudders covering the way out of the abandoned store. His grip tightened around Clementine slumped against his side. The poor girl had cried herself to sleep not twenty minutes ago. Her small hand was curled in his, squeezing his fingers every couple of seconds. Ben forced himself to relax back against the wall as he pointedly kept his eyesight on the ground. His stomach twisted in knots at the thought of what laid ahead of him. Who laid ahead of him.

He still couldn’t believe Lee was gone.

The man’s final words still rang in his head. _Ben, I need to you t-to take care of Clementine...Get-get her out o-of the city...Find Omid and Christa._

Ben looked towards the entrance as the banging quieted down some. They had to leave soon if they stood any chance of getting out of the city. He hesitated at the thought of waking Clem, she looked exhausted. He was exhausted. It took a long time for Ben to finally get moving. He gently moved Clem off his side and laid her down on the ground before he pulled himself to his feet. She shifted slightly and curled onto her side.

‘ _Maybe there’s a back door_ ,’ Ben thought. He made his way towards the office, quickly moving around the dead guard. The room was small with only a desk, computer, a large storage shelf, and two doors. Peeking through the dirty window in the far door, he could just make out what looked like a storage room. Ben could barely make out overturned boxes and spared display cases. He tried the doorknob, finding it locked, before moving to the second door. It looked to be a possible backdoor with what looked like the remnants of an exit sign that had fallen off. Unsurprisingly, the door was also locked. ‘ _The keys must be around here somewhere._ ’

Ben dug through the desk draws and the surrounding area. Hesitantly Ben turned towards the Guard, spotting the key ring on his belt. He was partially laying on them so Ben would have to move him to get to them.

“Of course that’s where they’d be,” Ben grumbled.

Ben slowly inched himself towards the corpse, watching him for the slightest movement. He knew realistically he was dead, Ben had bashed his head in with a baseball bat, but he couldn’t help but expect him to suddenly lunge at him. Ben nudged the Walker over with his foot before leaning down to quickly snatch the key ring. Luckily there were only three keys so it didn’t take long for him to find the right one.

Ben had to take a couple of minutes to calm his anxiety before slowly pushing the door open and peeking out into the alleyway. It was eerily quiet outside with the distant sounds of the undead in the streets. Ben ducked back inside and closed the door. He walked back into the main room and over to Clementine. Kneeling down next to her, he reached out to gently shake her shoulder.

“Clem, wake up,” Ben said. Clem mumbled something that Ben couldn’t catch before blinking her eyes open.

“Ben?” Clem sat up and rubbed her eyes before looking up at the teen. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying making Ben’s heartache. He tried to offer her a comforting smile, though it didn’t reach his eyes. Clementine reached up to adjust her hat on her head (a coping mechanism Ben had learned) as she looked around the shop. Her eyes drifted towards the far corner where Lee was. Her eyes started welling up again. Ben quickly moved to block her gaze.

“Clem, we need to get going,” Ben said, catching her attention. He tried to not let his anxiety bleed into his voice, not wanting to scare her. “Christa and Omid are probably looking us. We can get out through the back.”

Clementine didn’t respond. Ben sighed before offering his hand to her and pulling her to feet once she took it. He guided her back to the office, stopping to grab the baseball bat from where it laid by the desk. He swallowed thickly at the sight of blood and still clinging to the wood. Both Clem and Ben took one last look to Lee, an air of finality coming over them.

“Goodbye, Lee,” Clementine whispered. She tightened her hold on Ben’s hand as she turned away.

Ben stayed silent as Clementine wiped her eyes on her sleeves. He felt horrible for rushing her but he gently pulled her towards the back door and out into the empty alleyway. Ben looked around the corner of the alley's entrance, checking the surrounding street. There was a small group of Walkers off in the distance, slowly ambling towards their end of the street. They were far enough away that Clem and Ben could possibly go unnoticed if they were quiet.

Clementine peaked around Ben and out into the street. Across the way was another alleyway with a chain link fence at the far end they could hop. Ben knew Lee wanted them to stay up high and off the streets, but he didn’t trust himself to keep Clem safe on the rooftops. Ben couldn’t tell if it was his hand trembling or her’s. Either way, he tightened his hold on her hand as he prepared to make a run for it. “Stay close to me,” Ben whispered. The Walkers were slowly growing closer so if they were going to go they had to go now.

Ben took a deep breath and counted to three before running to the adjacent alley. Ben only slowed down enough to kneel down to give Clementine a boost to get over the fence. Clem looked unsure as she looked over to down at the ground. The fence looked to be about 8 feet tall. For Ben, it wouldn’t be much of a problem to jump down, but for Clem, it was a rather high hight. Ben quickly climbed up and swung his legs over the other side so he a sitting next to her.

He reached out a give her arm a comforting squeeze; “It’s ok. I’ll catch you.”

Ben climbed down a foot before jumping down the rest of the way. After gaining his balance, he looked up to Clem offering her a smile as he held out his arms. Sounds of Walkers were growing steadily louder and Ben spared a quick glance to the entrance to see some Walkers stumbling towards them. Clem noticed them too. The Walkers starting shaking the fence, making Clem tighten her grip.

“Clementine!” Ben cried. He shoved his bat through the fence in an attempt to Knock back a Walker. It only succeeded in making the fence shack more. Ben’s anxiety was rising quickly. “Shit. C-Clem, you have to-to jump down.”

Ben threw down his bat to raise his arms as Clem leapt off the top of the fence. Clem landed in his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around the teen’s neck. Ben held on to her just as tight. They stayed like that for a long time before the sounds of the undead brought them back to reality. Ben placed Clementine on the ground, keeping his arm around her shoulders.

The Walkers still tried to get to them, pushing their fingers through the chain links in hunger. The sun was starting to set over the city and the light was starting to fade quickly into long shadows. It was going to be harder to get out of the city in the dark. They still had no idea where Christa and Omid were. Ben slid down the brick wall and pulled his knees up to his chest. It was getting harder to breathe as he dug his fingers into his scalp.

“Ben?”

He shakingly looked up at Clem. She reached her hand out to him, stopping just before he touched his shoulder. Her eyes were filled with terror as he shot from him to the alley opening and back to him. It only helped to make him feel worse. Ben forced himself to climb to his feet. His legs felt like they were going to give out on him at any moment. He took a moment to try and calm his heart rate before speaking.

“I...I-I’m ok. Let-let’s keep m-moving.”

Clementine looked unconvinced but said nothing as she reached up to slip her hand into his, squeezing it tight. It took another minute before Ben could get his legs to move. They had maybe twenty minutes of light left before they would be running around blindly. He held tight to Clem’s hand as he grabbed his bat off the ground as led her out of the alley into the street. They were past the hoard now, a few stragglers could be seen in the far distance. Clementine tugged on Ben’s hand, gaining the teen's attention to before pointing to the other end of the road.

“The bridge.” Ben brightened up. “We get across that and we’ll be in the countryside!”

“Christa and Omid could be out there already!” Clem said, smiling up at Ben.

He returned it easily. “We shouldn’t keep them waiting then.”

The jovial air that had come over the duo was broken by the sight of a group of Walkers blocking the bridge. There was only five of them ambling around. Ben tightened his grip on his bat. There’s no way he’d be able to kill them with just a bat. Neither he or Clem had any bullets left, their only gun in Clementine’s bag, and he wasn’t about to risk her life to smash each of the Walker's brains.

' _We’ll have to make a run for it.'_  Ben thought, his heart rate speeding up. Out loud he said; “Clem, when I say ‘run’, run.”

Clementine looked up at him startled. Ben knelt down in front of her, offering her want he hoped was a comforting smile; “I promise I’ll be right behind you. I’m gonna knock the Walkers out of the way with my bat, and we’re going to run across the bridge.”

Clem hesitated before nodding. Ben rose to his feet before letting go of Clementine’s hand. He gripped the handle of the bat tightly in both hands as he stepped forward. He tried his best to keep his breathing calm as he rose his weapon up high. A Walkers turned its head towards him just as he wrung. The bat collided with the Walker with a loud crack. Ben’s shoulders ached from the force of the collision, causing him to let out a hiss of pain.  
“Run!” He shouted.

A flash of red shooting past him was Ben’s cue to start running. He took off down the bridge behind Clementine, quickly catching up to her. They wove between abandoned cars and other obstacles in their way, neither daring to slow down even for a second.

~*~

The moon has begun its ascent by the time Ben and Clementine reached the end of the other end of the bridge into the countryside. Both were breathing hard when they finally came to a stop. Ben took a few shaky steps forwards before toppling over into a patch of grass. He laid there on his back for a long time just staring up at the darkening sky and trying catching his breath. Clementine came to sit down next to him, reaching up to fix her hat that had almost fallen off during their escape across the bridge.

“So...now what do we do?” Clementine asked after a long moment.

Ben pushed himself up into a sitting position. “We should look for Christa and Omid. They must be worried about us.”

“Before we do,” Clem paused, playing with a bill of her hat. “What, what happened to Kenny? You and…and...Lee” She rubbed her palm into her watering eyes. “only mentioned looking for Omid and Christa. But not Kenny.”

Ben looked down at his lap, wrapping his arms around his abdomen. He took a deep breath before speaking; “He, um, Christa had fallen through the floor and Kenny jump down to help her up.” He stopped, trying to find the right words.

“There had been Walkers and...and couldn’t reach him-” He cut himself off when his voice cracked.

Clem was silent as she presses into Ben’s side, the teen did not hesitate to wrap his arms around her. He leaned down to rest his cheek against the top of her head. Soft cries filled the air as the events of the day finally caught up to them. Ben looked towards the dark silhouette of Savannah as tears fell down his face. He thought of all the friends he had lost, who they had lost in that damned city. His hold of Clem tightened.

‘ _Ben, I need to you t-to take care of Clementine._ ’ The thought ran through Ben’s head.

He would. No matter what he was going to care of Clem. He wasn’t going to run away again.


	2. Chapter 2

Ben adjusted his hold on Clementine resting on his back as he continued along the road. Clem’s arms were wrapped loosely around his neck, snoring softly on his shoulder. The moon was high in the sky, giving off just enough light for him to see where he was walking. They still had yet to run into Christa or Omid. He was starting to think they never would.

Ben shook the thought from his head. He couldn’t think about that. They had to be around here somewhere. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Clementine shifting around behind him. 

“Ben?” She mumbled, barely raising her head up. He tilted his head to glance back at her. “It’s dark, you should sleep.”

“I’m ok…” He said. He fought back a yawn. 

Ben didn’t like the idea of sleeping with them out in the open like this. He turned his gaze back towards the road. They were about 2 miles away from Savannah and the road was empty, save for a few cars scattered here and there. He fixed his grip on Clem again as his arms grew tired. He knew, realistically, he should stop. He was running low on energy and his legs felt like they’d give out on him any minute now.  
Clementine pulled on Ben’s jacket, making him come to a stop.

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked, turning back to her.

“You need to stop,” Clementine stated firmly. A pout formed on her face.

It made Ben think of his little sister. She’d pull the same face whenever Ben being stubborn. ‘She’s not that much older than Clem.’ He thought, frowning. “I- ok. I’ll stop.”

Clem smiled at him before resting her head back on his shoulder. Ben looked around their surroundings, trying to find a good place to rest for the night. His eyes landed on a short hill with a tree and a long laying on top of it. He turned in its direction and quickly made his way up to the top. It had a good vantage point, he’d be able to see any Walkers coming from a mile away. The fields around them were vacant of any other beings, alive or otherwise, so Ben forced himself to relax. 

He knelt down, allowing for Clem to slid off his back and onto the grass. She rubbed her eyes with a sleeve covered hand as she watched the teen sit down next to her, his back resting against the log. His hand landed on cold metal on the ground, and a glance down showed that there were stray bullets. He scooped them up in his hand to get a closer look at them. He didn’t know much about guns (Lee had attempted to show him how to use a gun), but he hoped these could be used for the gun in Clem’s bag. He put the bullets into Clem’s bag before she moved to rest against Ben side, tucking herself under his arm. Ben smiled down at her as he finally let his eyes slip closed.

“‘Night, Ben.” Clem curled closer before falling silent.

It was quiet then, almost peaceful. Ben shifted around until he was laying on his back before letting Clementine’s soft snores carry him off to sleep.

~*~

Ben was jostled awake by something grabbing at his jacket. His eyes shot open and for a few sickening seconds, he thought a Walker had him. At another shake, Ben’s gaze shot down to Clem's hand pulling at his lettermen before looking up at Clem herself. She was practically bouncing in place and she pointed excitedly ahead of her.

“Ben, look!” She exclaimed. “I think it’s them- Christa and Omid!” 

Ben looked to where she was pointing before jumping up himself. Off in the distance were two figures walking over another hill. They were too far away to make anything out, but Ben could almost see one was shorter than the other. The shorter one stopped and seemed to turn towards them, the other following suit. Before Ben could react, Clementine took off running towards them.

“Clem! Wait up!” Ben quickly grabbed their things before he ran after her, almost stumbling on his way down the hill. 

The two were practically sprinting through the field as excitement took over. Subconsciously, Ben noticed that the couple weren’t moving towards them and seemed to just be standing there, not reacting to them at all. They were a foot away from the pair when any excitement Ben was feeling was replaced with dread.

It wasn't Omid and Christa.

Ben’s hand shot out to grab Clem’s arm and yank her back towards him. They fell back down the hill as the two Walkers lunged at them. Ben scrambled out of the way of grasping hands, wincing as a sharp pain erupted from his right knee. He swung his bat at the closest Walker, Knocking it down to slam his weapon into its head. 

Clem snatched her backpack from Ben, digging through it for a couple of seconds before pulling out the gun and bullets. She quickly loads the weapon. Ben shoved the remaining Walker away from him, allowing for Clem to shot it in the head. The shot rang out through the field, almost deafening in the otherwise silence. 

Clementine was shaking as she ran to Ben’s side. Her eyes flicked over Ben, as her hands hovered over his person. When her gaze landed on the new bloodstained tear in the knee of his jeans, he immediately knew what she was looking for.

“It’s ok, I just scraped my knee.” He was quick to reassure. He wiped the blood away from the small wound, hissing at the slight sting.

Clem was quite as she looked at his knee for another second before looking in her bag again. She produced a bandage and handed it to the teen. A soft smile tugged at Ben lips as he took the bandage, bending down to place it over his scraped knee. He straightened up, bending the joint slightly.

“Thanks.” He said. He rested his hand on top of her hat, giving it a gentle tousle.

It had the desired effect as Clementine let out a giggle. Ben chuckled warmly in response. He pulled away to check the surrounding area. There weren’t any more Walkers around, though he was sure that wouldn’t last long.

“We should get going.” He said, turning back to his younger friend. “That shot was pretty load.”

Clementine frowned, looking down at her feet; “Sorry.”

Ben mentality kicked himself. 

“No, no, you really had my back there.” He smiled at Clem. “Honestly, I probably would have wasted all our bullets trying to get the shot and make a bunch of noise.” 

A small smile appeared on Clem’s face as she lifted her head up to him. She put the gun back into her bag before he slung her backpack straps over her shoulders and moved to put her hand in Ben’s. The duo moved back towards the road, continuing in the direction they were the night previously. 

“I wish we had a map.” Ben sighed. “Maybe we can find a rest stop for one.”

“And find Christa and Omid on the way,” Clementine suggested.

Ben smiled faintly as he looked ahead of them. Clementine lightly swung their hands between them as she looked around their surroundings. Ben silently noticed that despite her almost calm demeanour, Clem’s hold on his hand was borderline too tight. He squeezed back in the hopes of soothing whatever was going through her head. It didn’t seem to have much of an effect.


	3. Chapter 3

Ben moved through the aisles of the small store in the rest stop. Clementine was a few aisles down, looking for any food that wasn’t expired and still edible. He glanced up at her over the shelves, making sure she was ok before going back to looking for a map. The two worked in silence, to focus on their respective tasks to really hold a conversation.

Ben made his way towards the counter and quickly climbed over it. There wasn’t much, just some knick-knacks and a few packs of cigarettes. He dug around in the shelves and pulled open drawers and cabinets.

“Found one,” Ben called, hold up a well-worn map. 

The words and route markings were faded but legible enough to still be useful. Clementine came to stand in front of him, pulling herself up onto the counter to see the map. Looking over the map, Ben came to the sudden realization that they had nowhere to go. He rested his elbows against the surface and hung his head between his shoulders.

“What W-Well-ing-ton?” Clementine questioned, carefully sounding out the word.

Ben raised his head to follow where Clem was pointing on the map. Writing in red marker over Ohio was the word Wellington. He thought he remembered hearing Christa talk about it.

“I think I overheard Christa telling Lee about a ‘Wellington’,” Clem visibly flinched at the mention of Lee. “It’s some kind of settlement in Ohio.”

Ben found himself weighing the options and whether or not they should go. They had no idea what was up north and if was just as bad as the south or worse. Ben looked but over at Clem. ‘She could be safer in Wellington than here with me.’ He thought and that made going to Wellington worth it.

“It’d be worth a look,” Ben said.

“Really?” Clementine raised a questioning brow at the teen.

“Yeah.” Ben straightened up and crossed his arms. “It could be like a big road trip. Plus, it gives us somewhere to go.”

Clementine looked off in thought before turning back to him and nodding. Ben nodded in return before looking back at the map. He traced his index finger along its surface, trying to draw out a rout.

“I think we should go up through the Carolinas to Virginia,” Ben suggested, tracing the path. “Then to West Virginia and we’ll be in Ohio.” 

Ben wasn’t sure if it was the best plan, he’s never travelled that far before, but it was best he could come with. Seeming in agreement, Clem nodded once more before grabbing the map and hopping down as Ben climbed back over the counter. She handed the now folded map to teen, who tucked it into his back jean pocket.

“Oh! I found this for you.” She pulled out a black faux leather-bound notebook with Travel written across the top. Her eyes were bright with excitement as she presented it to him. “You said once that you liked to write and how you had lost you last notebook before we met.”

Ben smiled as he took the notebook. He was surprised Clem remembered that since he had kind of just it in passing. “Thanks, Clem. This-this means a lot.” 

Clem’s smiled only widened. Ben turned the book over in his hands and flipped through a couple of pages. It was a bit scuffed along the edges and the pages had a layer of dust on them. His mind was already coming up with ideas to fill the pages with. He slipped it into the backpack he had found earlier in the store, frowning at the abysmal amount of supplies he had manages to find: a box of Tylenol, 4 packets of beef jerky, and a small flashlight. He sighed softly, zipping the bag up and slinging it over his shoulders.

“Clem, did you find any supplies?” Ben asked.

“Um, I found a bag of trail mix under one of the shelves,” She pulled out a decently sized bag from her pack. “And 2 water bottles. One for both of us.”

She handed one of the bottles to Ben, tucking the other back in her bag with the trail mix. She mimicked the teen’s actions and moved her backpack to her back. The two walked to the entrance to peak out into the empty parking lot. Ben went out first, checking around before gesturing for Clem to follow. 

“If we’re going to Ohio, We should see about finding a car,” Ben said. “Otherwise, it gonna be a long walk.”

“Do you know how to drive?” Clem asked. 

Ben playfully nudged her shoulder; “Yes I know how to drive, Clem.”

Clementine brought a hand up to cover her mouth as she giggled. Ben rolled his eyes, bringing up a fist to rub into Clem’s head and rub into her hat. She squeaked and ducked away from his hand, sticking out her tongue at him. She fixed her hat to sit properly on her head, before crossing her arms with a huff. The small smile that had appeared on her face, disappeared just as quickly as her hand reached out to take its usual spot in Ben’s hand. Ben didn’t mind though. He found it just as much of a comfort she seemed to. 

Ben could already tell they weren’t going to find a useable car anytime soon. The parking lot around them was vacant with trash strewn about the ground. Ben sighed deeply, closing his eyes. Reopening his eyes, Ben looked up at the sky. It was only about late morning, almost noon and if they were going to get any progress done before sundown, they should get moving now. He hesitated. He had no idea if they would find any sort of shelter before night. Yet the idea of spending the night in another store sent a shudder down his spine.

“I guess we should start walking,” Ben sighed again. He pulled the map out of his pocket. Ben wished he still had his phone and GPS. “We need to head in that direction.” Ben pointed down the road ahead of them, hoping he was reading the directions right. 

Clementine didn’t say anything as she followed along when Ben started walking. He glanced down at her, but couldn’t see her face under the bill of her hat. Her head was tilted down slightly and her hold on the teen’s hand was slowly getting tighter. Ben didn’t know what to do. He knew she was grieving, but he didn’t know how to make it better.   
“So…” Ben started lamely. “Any specific car you want?”

“Um, a moving one..?” Clem said, a teasing lilt in her voice.

Ben snorted; “I’ll keep an eye out for one.” 

The duo fell back into silence, the sound of birds chirping overhead and their shoes hitting the asphalt were the only sounds to be heard.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :(

When they finally found a working car, Ben nearly cried in relief. It had been four weeks by the time they had found the vehicle and the two were more than happy to not have to walk long distances anymore. The discovery coincided with their arrival to South Carolina.

Ben glanced up to the rearview mirror at Clem in the backseat. She was curled up on the seat with Ben’s school jacket draped over her as a makeshift blanket. He turned back to the dimly lit road. It was sunset and he’d have to stop soon before it got too dark. It was all strangely calm out here on the road, he wasn’t the greatest driver in the world but it was pretty smooth going. It was relaxing. 

That is until Clementine suddenly shot up in the backseat with a cry of “Lee!”

Ben jumped, swerving to the left before his foot slammed down on the breaks. The car lurched forwards before stopping completely. Ben hissed in pain as his elbowed buckled. At the sound of a strangled cry, his gaze shot to the back of the car. Clem’s tearful gaze shot around the car as her breathing hitched. Her eyes landed on Ben in front of her and he felt his heart jump to his throat that the pure sorrow and fear in her eyes. Her breathing hitched once more as tears began to stream down her face.

Ben’s mind blanked on what to do was Clementine pulled her knees up and buried her face in them as she sobbed. His hands hovered in the space between them as he tried to think of what Lee would do, only to realize he had no idea. He’d never seen Clem have a nightmare before.

Ben hesitated before shutting off the car and climbing between the front seats and into the back to sit next to Clem. He reached out and lightly pulled Clementine to his chest, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She stiffened for a second before her arms flung up and wrapped around his waist tightly. 

“Hey, i-it’s ok.” Ben tried. He lifted a hand to card his fingers through Clem’s hair.

“I-I...I got L-Lee k-killed!” She cried. She buried to face into Ben’s chest, grip tightening.

Ben swallowed around the lump forming in his throat; “No-no you didn’t.” Clementine shook her head in denial.

“Clem, Lee- he loved you so much a-and would’ve done a-anything for you. Y-you didn’t kill him.”

Clem sniffled, wiping her face against Ben’s hoodie. Ben felt his own tears start to fall down his cheeks. ‘This is my fault.’ Ben thought dejected. He hadn’t been strong enough to shoot Lee when he started to turn. He pulled her closer, resting his cheek on top of her head. Clementine’s muffled sobs filled the small space to where Ben was worried the noise might attract something. Ben immediately pushed that thought to the back of his mind to focus on his distressed friend.

“I-If Lee n-never-”

“Don’t say that.” Ben cut in. “What happened to Lee isn’t your fault.”

His frown deepened as Clem shook her head. He continued to rub his hand over her back as he struggled to think of what to do. Without thinking, Ben starts to hum quietly. It was something he would do for his little sister when she was upset and it was almost second nature to him. Ben knew he wasn’t really that great at singing, his voice cracked too much to sound nice. Clementine didn’t react at first, but slowly her sobs quieted to sniffles and hiccups. She curled closer to turning her face so could wipe her face on her sleeve.

Ben’s humming slowly turned to quiet singing as he leaned back against the seat. He picked his jacket up from where it had fallen onto the floor and wrapped it around his young friend’s shoulders. Clem curled her fingers into the faded blue fabric, pulling it closer as she relaxed into the teen’s side. Ben waited until her breathing evened out before he stopped singing. Ben sighed, bringing his hand up to press into his eyes. 

‘What the hell am I doing?” Ben thought, defeated. He pushed his grown bangs off his face with a grimace. 

Ben looked down at Clem. He lowered his hand to wipe any stray tears off of her face before resting it on her shoulder. Clem shifted slightly, her hand slipping out from under his jacket to curl her fingers around his. A small tired smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

Clementine trusts him to keep her safe, and he’d be damned if he wasted that trust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just close your eyes, the sun is going down  
> You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a happier chapter

The weeks following Clem’s nightmare, she seemed happier. Though she still had her moments where she’d just hold Ben’s hand and wouldn’t say anything. Simply nodding or humming to what Ben was saying. Ben tried to be there for her in those moments. Even if ‘being there’ meant just holding her hand and giving her time to process everything. 

This morning was one of those times. The two were currently travelling down the forested mountain roads of South Carolina. Ben relaxed back in the driver seat while Clem sat next to him on the passenger side. She sat cross-legged on the seat with Ben’s journal sat in her lap. She was quietly doodling on one of the pages. Ben glanced over to her quickly before turning back to the road. 

“What, um, what are you drawing?” Ben asked, awkwardly.

She paused for a few seconds before responding, “Us.”

“Can I see?” Ben smiled. He slowed down before turning his gaze to Clem.

Clementine slowly held up the notebook to show the teen her drawing, holding the book sideways. The two figures on the page were holding hands, big smiles on both their faces. Their names were written over their respective drawing to indicate who was who.

“That’s really good, Clem,” Ben said.

Clem smiled shyly and she pulled the notebook back to continue her drawing. Ben smiled down at her before turning back to the road, the two falling back into silence. The only sounds to be heard was the scraping of graphite on paper and the soft roar of the car engine.

The silence was once again broken by Ben’s stomach growling. He tried to ignore it, keeping his attention focused on the road ahead. His attention was pulled away by the sound of a ripper and a bag crinkling. Ben looked back over to the passenger side as Clementine held up the almost empty bag of trail mix to him. She held it closer to him when the teen hesitated, her mouth in a thin line. Ben relented and released a hand from the steering wheel to reach into the bag and scoop up a hand full of the mix. 

Clem watched the boy to make sure he ate all of it. Ben felt a pang of guilt in his gut. He knew she noticed that most of their supplies went to her, despite him trying to be subtle about it. Clem looked satisfied with Ben eating as she took her own hand full and tucked the bag back in her pack. She adjusted the bottom of her new blue hoodie, as she leaned back in her seat, resting her head against the window. 

“We have a few hours of gas left,” Ben stated. “You can sleep more if you want.”

Clementine was quiet as she moved her hat to shield her eyes from the sun. She sat Ben’s journal on the middle console before tucking her legs up under her. Her amber eyes looked out over the dense foliage as it sped by outside.

“Ben?” Clem’s voice was almost too soft for Ben to catch.

“Yeah, Clem?” He flitted his gaze between her and the road. 

She was quiet for a moment before speaking; “Can- can you sing to me again?”

“S-sure. Any requests?” 

Clem shrugged and shook her head. Ben started quietly singing the same song sang to her days prior. He looked over at Clem every couple of moments to see she was falling asleep. Clementine was soon slumped against her seat, her hat tipping awkwardly to the side. Ben chuckled quietly as he reached over to take the accessory and sat it down on the dashboard. Turning back to the road, Ben continued to quietly sing to himself as a smile found its way to his lips.


	6. Season 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here we go!

Laughter filled the air as Clem and Ben made their way into the forest clearing. It had been a month since they lost their car and the two continued on foot

“I’m sorry,” Ben started, fighting back a grin. “What’s the character’s name again?”

“Disco Broccoli!” Clem exclaimed.

Ben snorted, bring his hand up to cover his snickering. He remembered his sister watching a show with a character by that name, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember what it was called. His smile only grew as Clementine went on to excitedly recount the show's plot to him. A warm feeling filled Ben’s chest at his younger friend’s happiest. He knew she was still grieving Lee, but it was nice to see that Clem was starting to act like her old self again. The two soon quieted down as the approached an abandoned restroom.

Much like many places nowadays, it looked like no one had been here for a long time. The building was rundown with stains and graffiti all over the walls. Ben made his way over the beat-up car in the parking lot, reaching through the broken window to unlock the door. The door was stuck and it took a couple of good pulls to open it. There were a few empty cans strewn about the floor but nothing of value. Leaning over to the driver side, he pulled the small peddle to pop open the trunk.

“Hey, Clem,” Ben stood and turned to the child. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up in the girls’ room. I’m going to search this car a bit more and then I’ll catch up with you.”

“I hope the sink works in there,” Clem said, stepping towards the rusted door.

“I doubt it. But be careful and watch your things. I’ll be right out here if you need anything.” Ben instructed before turning to the trunk.

Clem nodded before pushing the door open and disappearing from sight. Ben dug through the bags and boxes, hoping to find something among the mess. He was about to give up when his hand came in contact with something denim. Ben pulled out a pair of jeans, along with two shirts, One a dark purple and the other a blue and purple stripe long sleeve shirt. They looked to be child size and surprisingly in good shape.

‘ _These would be perfect for Clem_.’ Ben thought with a smile.

“Turn around.” A voice from behind Ben made him freeze. His heart pounded in his throat as he slowly turned to face the woman pointing a gun at him. “Hand over your bag.”

Ben did as he was told, pulling his pack from his back and handing it over. The woman snatched it from him, continuing to point her weapon at him as she started to dig through it.

“This is all junk.” She hissed. “What else you got?”

  
“T-that’s all I-I have.” Ben voice cracked slightly as his panic started to rapidly rise.

“Bullshit!” The woman glared at him jerking the gun at him. “Show me what else you have.”

Ben shook his head as he trembled all over. He swallowed loudly as bit his lip to stay quiet. The woman noticed this and mocked him with “What, are you start crying?” Ben wanted to deny it, but a lump was forming in his throat. The woman laughs as she turned back to digging in his bag.

Behind him, Ben heard the soft squeak on the bathroom door opening. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Clem slipping out into the lot. Her eyes were wide with fear as her eyes met Ben’s. The woman noticed Clem and aimed the gun away from Ben to Clementine.

Without thinking, Ben lunged forwards and tackled the woman to the ground. A gunshot rang out through the clearing and his thoughts immediately shot to Clem’s well being. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Ben registered something wet touch his hand, causing him to jump back to see a bullet hole in the woman’s head. Ben slowly turned to face Clem, finding her standing a few meters away with their gun in her hands. She shakingly met Ben’s gaze as she lowered the weapon.

“Sh-she was g-going to hurt y-you.” Clem stammered.

Ben worked his jaw for a minute as he tried to process what happened. Slowly, Ben stood and moved to grab the clothes from the car and tuck them into his bag. He picked up his bat from where it had fallen during the struggle, throwing it in the bag as well.

“Are- are you mad at me?” Clem’s voice cracked as she spoke.

Ben felt his heart sink as he turned to Clem. She looks down at the ground, a hand reached up to fiddle with her hat. The teen knelt down in front of her and pulled her to his chest, holding her tight.

“No, I’m not mad at you,” Ben said softly. “I- I just wasn’t expecting it.”

Clem sniffled loudly, hiding her face in Ben’s shoulder. Ben held her closer, bring a hand up to run through Clem’s hair. Giving one last squeeze, Ben pulled away to try and meet her gaze. Clem hesitated for a long moment before raising her eyes to the teen’s. He had a small smile on his face as he reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes. The duo was quiet for a long time, neither able to say anything. Ben finally climbed to his feet and brushed off his jeans.

“We- we should get going,” Ben said. His eyes scanned the surround woods, looking for any sight of Walkers lured by the gunshot.

“Ok…” Clem mumbled.

She silently reached up to take Ben’s hands, squeezing his fingers. Ben paused, thinking, before leaning down to pick was the woman’s gun. He turned on the safety before tucking it into the back of his pants. Part of him didn’t feel right taking a dead woman’s gun, but the other part knew it was necessary to keeping Clem safe. Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, Ben led Clem back toward the woods.

A heavy silence fell over the pair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made of discord of this story!!! Come join for sneak peeks and other fun stuff! :)  
> https://discord.gg/ru49T3W


	7. Chapter 7

Clementine tugged at the bottom of her new purple t-shirt as she trudged along. Her new clothes were a tad big on her (obviously made for a much taller child) but they did a good job at keeping her warm. She glanced up at Ben walking alongside her. His eyes were glued to the tail ahead of him, his bat gripped loosely in his hand. It had been three days since the incident at the rest stop and they had yet to talk about it.

Clem turned away from the teen and focused back on the path ahead. They were somewhere in the forests of North Carolina, currently looking for somewhere to make camp. The sound of rustling caught both of their attention. Ben tighten his hold on his bat, his other hand reaching out to pull Clem behind him. Slowly Ben made his way toward the rustling. He ducked down as he peeked over the bushes in front of him. Clem came up next to, spotting a weasel just a few feet ahead of them.

“Here,” Ben whispered. He passed her his gun, keeping his eyes on the small animal. “You’re a better shot than I am.”

Clem took the gun, lifting it to aim at the weasel. ‘ _Aim a bit to the left_.’ A long since gone voice echoed in her head. She shifted aim an inch to the left before pulling the trigger.  The bullet hit the animal in the chest, killing it.

“Good job,” Ben praised. “You just got us dinner.”

Clem felt herself grin as she stood and followed Ben as he went to retrieve the weasel. Ben pause in the realization that he had no idea how to cook a weasel.

“You, uh, you don’t happen to know how to cook Weasel do you?” Ben said, awkward.

“No,” Clem answered.

“Damn,” he sighed. He brought his free on up to rub his face. Silently, Ben noticed that Clem hadn’t said her usual “Swear.” whenever someone cursed. “Well, I guess we’ll figure it out.”

Ben adjusted his hold on the weasel as he made his way into the clearing a yard ahead of them. Clem silently walked along behind him, picking up some fallen sticks as she went. She dropped the stack next to where Ben was crouching in the dirt. He was holding the pocket knife he had found in a run-down car. His gaze flicked between the knife and the animal in front of him. Clem already knew what he was thinking.

“We need more wood for a fire,” Clem said. She reached out to take the knife from Ben. “I can set up camp while you get firewood.”

“No, I’m not leaving you alone,” Ben said firmly.

“I’ll be fine,” Clem reassured, “I have my gun and my hatchet.”

Ben heaved a sigh, “Don’t leave this spot. I’ll be gone for five minutes.”

Clem nodded in agreement. Ben climbed to his feet, hesitating for a couple of seconds before walking past the treeline. Clem shook her head as she got to work setting up sleeping bags and grabbing rocks for the fire.

 ------

Ben bent down to pick up another fallen log off the ground. He tried to hurry, he didn’t like that Clementine was alone back at their camp and wanted to get back to her. The sun had set a couple of minutes, chilling the air now that Autumn had officially settled in. Ben shivered, working faster in the want to get a fire started.

“This should be enough for tonight,” Ben said to himself.

He turned back towards camp, thrilled to get back to his younger friend when the sound of footsteps caught his attention. He turned his head as three men came into view. One pointed a gun at Ben’s head, causing him to drop the firewood and raise his arm up in front of him. The men stepped towards him and Ben took an involuntary step back. The men surrounded him, blocking his escape.

 ‘ _Not again.’_ Ben thought panicked. He mentally kicked himself for leaving his bat and gun back at camp. ‘ _Oh god, Clem! Please let her be ok_.’

“-He obviously has a group!” The man with the gun yell, pulling Ben out of his thoughts. “He does have anything on him!”

“No! I-I’m by m-myself!” Ben stammered.

“Bullshit!” The third man growled. “Tell up where your group is!”

“I-’m a-alone!” Ben heart pounded hard against his ribcage. “I-I don’t-t have a g-group!”

“He’s not going to fucking say anything!” The second step forwards, drawing a gun.

“P-please! J-just me g-go!” Ben cried.

The second armed man aimed his gun at Ben’s head and he knew he going to pull the trigger. Before he could, a rock flew through the air, hitting the man’s head. Ben’s head shot to the side where he spotted Clem yelling “Ben, run!” before taking off herself.

Ben didn’t have to be told twice. A gun sounded off and a bullet whizzed by Ben’s head, just grazing his cheek. He could feel blood running down his cheek but he didn’t care and just kept running. His gaze flew from one side to the other, looking for any sign of Clem.

He spotted her fighting off a Walker. He ran over to her, grabbed his bat from his bag over her shoulder, and swung. The Walker fell and He grabbed Clem’s hand pulling her along as he started running again. The trees ended and suddenly they were coming to a dropoff. Down below was a river rushing by, blocking any way from getting across.

Loud footsteps sounded behind them and they turned to the bandits entering the clearing. Ben pulled Clem behind him as he stepped back. Clem stepped back too far and her sneaker met thin air. In a panic, She tightens her hold on Ben’s hand, inadvertently pulling him with her as she fell.

“Shit!” Ben cried.

Pain exploded through Ben’s head as he hit the water. He vaguely registered Clem yelling for him before everything faded black.


	8. Chapter 8

Ben groaned as what felt like a foot hit his shoulder. He tried lifting his head, only to be overcome with the overwhelming feeling of dizziness. The foot came in contact with Ben’s shoulder again and finally opened his eyes. Everything was blurry but be to vaguely make out the outline of two figures standing over him: one orange and the other green.

“Hey, Kid, you still with us? The green one asked, kneeling down.

“Pete, what if he’s with Carver?” Orange one paused when Ben looked up at him.

“Wha- W-who are-” Ben reached up to rub his eyes with a groan.

“Easy there.” The green one, Pete said softly.

“Who- who are y-you?”

“I’m Pete, this here is Luke.” Luke waved awkwardly behind Pete. “What about you, Kid?”

“I-I’m B-Ben. A-and thi-” Ben looked next to him, only to pause when no one was there. “Clem? Clementine?!”

Ben shot up only for his legs to give out under him. Luke was quick to catch him, wrapping his hand around Be’s upper arm. Ben closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. It felt like the world around him was tilted. Ben reopened his eyes, trying to focus his sight to try an spot the young girl.

He tried to move away from Luke, only to stumble over his own feet. Luke once again caught him, holding him upright despite Ben easily towering over him. Ben’s head continued to pound and the dizziness was making it hard to concentrate.

“I-I need to f-find Clement-tine,” Ben pressed his palm to forehead in hopes of relieving his headache.

“Whoa, whoa you need to sit down,” Pete said, resting a hand on Ben’s shoulder.

“N-No! I n-need to find C-Clem!” Ben struggled to pull away from Luke. His anxiety started to rise as he started to shake. “I-I promised I’d p-protect her! She o-only 10!”

“Ben, breath!” Luke tightened his hold on the teen’s arm. “We’ll find your sister, but you. need. to. calm. down.”

‘ _ My sister _ ? ’ That made Ben pause. Clementine wasn’t his sister, even if Ben did forget that fact sometimes. He shook his head only to immediately regret the action. He pressed his hand to forehead, only to jolt at the feeling of something wet. He pulled his hand away to reveal his palm was stained crimson. He just stared at his hand for a long time as his fog-filled mind tried to process what he was seeing.

“Shit, you’re bleeding!” Luke’s voice pulled Ben back to reality.

“Here.” Pete pulled out what looked like an old rag from his pocket and pressed it to bleeding scape on Ben’s left temple.

Ben winced, trying to move from the stinging pain that followed the action. Pete held his head in place, reaching to bring up Ben’s hand to hold the rag over the wound. Ben kept it in place as he leaned against Luke. He helped Ben along as they started walking, the trio slowly making their way along the river bank.

“So what does Clem look like?” Luke questioned.

“Um, she about this tall,” Ben raised his free hand to just above his waist. “Has dark brown hair in pigtails, and a blue baseball cap with a ‘D’ on the front. She wearing blue jeans and blue and purple long sleeve shirt with a dark purple T-shirt over top.”

“Does she have any weapons?” Pete asked. The thought a missing child worried him greatly.

“Y-yeah. She has both our guns and her hatchet.” Ben answered.

Ben’s eyes trailed around the surrounding area. His vision was still a bit blurry around the edges. He adjusted his hold on the rag, trying to lighten the throbbing pressure. The sound of a cry from the left caught the men’s attention. Ben scrambled towards the sound, stumbling into an abandoned campsite. Clementine was pinned under a Walker, struggling to keep it away.

Pete came forwards, grabbing his crossbow off his back to shoot the Walker. The arrow hit the Walker in the head, bringing it down the ground. Clem pushed the corpse off of her before trying to push herself up.

“Clementine!” Ben cried, stumbling to towards her.

“Ben! Your head’s bleeding!” Clem reached out for him. The groan of Walkers cut her off.

“Talk later. We need to go.” Luke knelt down to scoop Clem up into his arms.

Pete moved to wrap his arm around Ben’s waist, helping him walk as things became too blurred. After that Ben barely registered what was happening. Suddenly Luke and Pete were arguing.

“-She’s bitten!” He caught Luke say.

‘ _ No she can’t- _ ’ His gaze landed on Clem’s arm, a red blotch staining her sleeve. He could hear Pete speaking but could make it out as he finally lost consciousness.

\------

Ben awoke to the sound of arguing. It took him a second to realize he was laying on something soft with what could only be a pillow under his head. Opening his eyes, he could only to stare up at a wooden ceiling. To say he was confused would be an understatement. ‘ _ Where the hell am I? Where’s Clem? _ ’

_ She’s bitten! _

Ben’s blood ran cold as he remembered Luke’s words. He tried to push himself up only to fall against the back of the couch he was laying on. He pressed his hand to his forehead, pausing at the feeling of bandages wrapped around his head. He touched a moist spot, causing him to hiss in pain.

“You’re awake.” Ben turned his head at the sound of a voice. There was a young girl standing beside the couch. She looked to be around his age but a year or two younger. Her brown eyes looked at him through red framed glasses. “I’m Sarah.”

“I’m B-Ben.” He stammered. “Was there a little girl with me when I was brought here?”

“Clementine! Yeah, she’s in the first bedroom upstairs,” Sarah answered, smiling.

“Oh thank god.” Ben sighed. “Is she ok? Can I see her?”

Sarah frowned, shaking her head. “She quarantined. The others want to make sure the bite on her arm isn’t from a Monster. Dad says it’s a dog bite though.”

Ben rubbed his hands over his face. “A least it’s not a Walker bite.”

“Walker?”

“Y’know the...Monsters.” Ben awkwardly explained. He caught sight of his arms and looked down to see he was wearing new clothes. He was wearing black jeans, a dark blue t-shirt with an off white long sleeve shirt underneath. “What happened to my clothes?”

“Oh, your clothes were all wet,” She explained. “We didn’t want you getting sick and Rebecca found you something dry to wear.”

Ben didn’t know how to respond. He moved so his sock covered feet were on the ground, trying not to move too quickly. The sound of footsteps coming down the hall alerting the two teens to someone coming. A man entered the living room and when he saw Ben was awake he made his way over to the couch.

“Sarah, I told you to let him rest.” The man said.

“Sorry, Dad,” Sarah looked away guilty. “Ben was asking about Clem.”

“Can I please see her?” Ben begged. “We’ve never been separated before.”

“I’m sorry but under morning, I can’t let you in her room,” He looked at Ben with sympathy. “Until then the other’s have questions for you.”

Ben sighed, dropping his head back into his hands. “Promise me Clem is ok, and I’ll answer your questions.”

The man didn’t miss a beat; “I promise your sister is ok.”

Ben nodded. He slowly made to stand, Sarah reaching out to steading him. It took him a couple of seconds to adjust to standing before he could stand on his own. Sarah’s father looked apprehensive to Ben standing up and he reached out to hold Ben’s arm as they walked towards the kitchen.

At the door, he turned to Sarah; “Sarah, can you stay out while we talk to Ben.”

"Ok, Dad.” She turned back to the living room, disappearing around the corner.

Ben raised a brow in confusion but decided not to say anything. He turned back to the kitchen following Sarah’s father into the room where the rest of the group members were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has a Discord!   
> https://discord.gg/2Su3Cjy
> 
> Come join the fun :)


	9. Chapter 9

Ben rested his elbows against the table as he rested his chin on his palm. Sarah’s father, Carlos he had learned, sat across from him with Pete next to him. Luke was leaning against the counter with another man, Pete’s nephew Nick. And there was a couple behind Carlos and Pete, Alvin and Rebecca.

“Like I said, I don’t know who Carver is,” Ben replied to the repeated question. “It’s just Clem and me.”

“How long has it been just you and Clementine?” Nick asked. “You had to have been with a group.”

“We used to be,” Ben sighed. “We lost them on the way and in Savannah. That was over a year ago.”

“How old are you?” Rebecca asked, a concerned look in her eyes.

“I’m 17 and Clementine’s 10, almost 11.” Ben leaned back in his chair.

“You’re kids.” Nick frowned.

“I’m not a kid!” Ben growled, glaring at the man.

Nick glared back, looking as if he was about to start something. Luke wrapped his hand around Nick’s bicep, pulling him back when he leaned towards the teen. Ben just huffed and crossed his arms. He glanced around the room at the adults looking at him before his gaze landed on the door. He so badly wanted to just walked out the door and up to where Clem was. He needs to see for himself that she was safe. He decided against it, not wanting to cause any more trouble with the group.

Ben turned back to Pete as the man said; “You said you were in Georgia. What are you doing up here in Virginia?”

“We’re heading to Wellington, Ohio,” Ben replied. “It’s a settlement where Clem will be safe. Clem hopes two of our old group members will be there, but I don’t know.”

“Were you and Clementine the only children in your group?” Alvin’s question made Ben stiffen.

Ben stared down at the table. “N-no. There, um, t-there was a boy, a-a year o-or so older th-then Clem. He- he, um, he didn’t-”

“You don’t have to answer, Ben.” Alvin an apologetic look.

Ben shook his head, wiping at his eyes; “He was a g-good kid. Hard to follow half the time but…” He stood from his chair. “I’m done answering questions.”

He moved towards the kitchen door and out into the hall. He looked up the stairs, thinking for a second before climbing.  _ The first bedroom _ . Ben assumed it was the one closest to the stairs on the left and reached out to take the handle. He wasn’t surprised to find it locked. It was a simple turn lock, so it was easy for him to unlock the door and push it open.

Clementine was sat on the bed flipping through a book. She looked up when the door opened, her eyes widening at the sight of Ben. Before she could react, Ben came forward and enveloped her in a tight hug. Clem melted into the embrace, wrapping her arms around Ben’s torso. Ben gently rocked her, resting his cheek against her hair.

“You- you just collapsed,” Clem whispered. “When we were in the wood. I-I thought-”

“I-I’m ok, We’re b-both ok,” Ben cut her off. He pulled away. “Let me see your arm.”

Clem held up her injured arm, pushed up her striped sleeve. Her forearm was wrapped snuggly with bandages resembling those wrapped around his head. Ben gently took hold of her wrist, lifting her arm to get a better look at it.

“Carlos stitched it up when we first got here,” Clem said. “After he cleaned you cut. He says we’ll both have scars.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” Ben said. His thumb lightly rubbed over her bandages.

“No, don’t go blaming yourself.” Clem lightly scolded. “It’s my fault for pissing off a starving dog.”

“Swear,” Ben teased, smiling at her.

Clem snorted as she reached out to shove his shoulder. Ben laughed, grabbing to the bedpost to keep from falling off the bed. He reached down to grab Clem’s book from where it fell on the floor. He flipped it over to read the cover: ‘ _ Peter Pan _ ’.

“This was my favourite story when I was your age,” Ben commented. “I always wanted to go to Neverland.”

“C-can you read it to me?” Clem questioned shyly.

“Of course.” He smiled. He moved up to rested against the pillows, tucking Clem under his arm when she settled next to him. He flipped to the first page. “Chapter one: Peter Breaks Through.”

\----------

Ben awoke much more pleasantly than he did yesterday: to the smell of oatmeal. Clem was curled into his side as she slept soundly. The copy of ‘ _ Peter Pan _ ’ laid open on Ben lap, they had fallen asleep somewhere around chapter 2. Ben closed the book before sitting it on the side table next to the bed. He gently shook Clem’s shoulder, snickering when she grumbled at him.

“Mornin’,” Ben brushed her hair out of her face. She needed a haircut.

“I smell food.” Clem lifted her head from his shoulder, looking towards the door.

Ben chuckled; “Come on, I’m hungry.”

He pulled himself out from under her, leaning down to lift the half-asleep girl into his arms. Clem whined, but wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her head on top. She was getting a bit heavy for Ben to carry and he had to adjust his hold as to not drop her. He was glad he hadn’t completely closed the door last night and easily nudged it open with his foot.

He could hear clattering and talking come from the first floor. He carefully made his way down the steps, looking over Clem’s shoulder so he wouldn’t miss a step. Carlos greeted them at the base of the stairs, he and Ben made eye content. Ben already knew where this was going by the look in the man’s eyes.

“I told you not to go up there until morning.” Carlos scolded.

“I didn’t listen,” Ben replied, He didn’t mean to be annoyed, but he didn’t understand how they expected him to wait until morning to know Clem was safe. “I would think you as a father would understand why I didn’t.”

“I suppose I do.” Carlos sighed, rubbing his eyes. “There’s breakfast for you in the kitchen. And I would like to check Clementine’s temperature and change your bandage.”

Ben nodded before turned toward the kitchen. Carlos stepped ahead of him, holding the door open so Ben could walk through with Clem. He carefully sat her down in a chair before sitting down next to her. Carlos rested the back of his hand against Clem's forehead, moving it to her cheek before moving away.  

“She doesn’t have a fever, and she’s not showing any symptoms,” He stated. Ben sighed in relief. Carlos moved to sit two bowls of oatmeal in front of them, the two kids immediately digging in. “I’ll change your bandages after you eat.”

“Thank you,” Ben said, around a mouth full.

Clem just nodded her thanks as she lightly elbowed Ben in the ribs. The teen snorted but otherwise didn’t respond. Ben caught the glimpse of a smile on Carlos’s face as the man left through the door.

“How’s your head?” Clem asked. Her eyes glanced up at the white bandage on his head.

“Better. I have a small headache, but nothing bad.” Ben answered.

“Carlos said you might have a small concussion.” Clem comment. “You hit your head on that rock pretty hard. I-I tried to get to y-you but-”

Ben pulled Clementine into his side, holding her close. Clem curled her fingers into the back of his t-shirts. Ben tucked her head under his chin as he muttered inaudible words to her.

“Don’t think about that,” Ben said, pulling away. “What we should think about is: what do we do next?”

“What do you mean?” Clem asked, before scooping a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth.

Ben thought for a second; “Well Wellington has been our end goal for a while now. I think --if the group will let us-- we stay here until your arm’s healed and then continue on the Wellington.”

“ _ And _ your concussion needs to get better,” She pointed out. “I think that’s a good idea.”

“You sure? Your opinion matters too,” Ben clarified.

“We’ve been travelling nonstop for over a year,” Clem started. “We could use a break.”

Ben nodded, smiling. He turned back to his breakfast, grab that they not had a plan. A minute after they had finished eating, Carlos returned. He had a first-aid kit in his hands. He set the kit down on the table before moving to put the dishes into the sink for later. Ben watched as Carlos opened the kit to pull out a packet of gauze pads that had antiseptics on them.

“Alright, Ben,” Carlos started. “I’m going to unwrap your wound and It may sting.”

“O-ok.” Ben felt Clem’s hand curl into his sleeve.

Carlos nodded before reaching out to undo the bandage. Just like he warned, it stung quite a bit. Ben wince but tried to stay still. The bloodied bandage fell away and Carlos moved to throw them away. Clem looked up at the wound. It was scabbed over and no longer bleeding. The cut started just below his left temple and ran diagonally up to his forehead, cutting along the edge of his eyebrow. Carlos picked up the cleaning pads to open the packet to take it out. He brought it up to the cut, cleaning off the dried blood and cleaning the scab.

“How- how’s his concussion?” Clem asked nervously.

“He seems more aware than yesterday,” Carlos answered as he reached to a large band-aid package. “But I should test your memory and eyes.”  

Ben just nodded. Stilling when Carlos placed the now open band-aid over his wound. Carlos pulled out a penlight from the kit. He pulled up a chair to sit in front of Ben.

“Alright, look right here and follow the light,” Carlos instructed. Ben hissed as the light hit his eyes. It took a couple of seconds for his sight to adjust before he could follow the slowly moving light. Carlos thought for a second before speaking; “First question: what is your full name?”

“B-Benjamin Cameron Paul,” Ben answered.

“You’re middle name’s Cameron?” Clem asked, smiling.

“Y-yeah. My family is S-Scott-Irish decent.” Ben blinked as Carlos turned off the flashlight.

“Have you ever been to Scotland or Ireland?” Carlos asked.

“Once, when I was 12 my family went to Scotland,” He reached up to lightly touch the bandage.

“Aside from Clementine,” Carlos closed up the first-aid kit. “Do you have any other siblings?”

Ben stiffened, looking away; “A- a younger s-sister. I- I don’t know w-where she is th-though.”

Carlos nodded, looking at the teen with an apologetic look. “Well your memory seems to unharmed, but you are still showing small signs of a concussion. Take it slow and rest. You are welcome to use the room you slept in last night.”

Ben nodded. Clem stood from her seat, Ben following close behind. They thanked Carlos before leaving the room. Clementine let them up the staircase, pulling him into the room and to the bed.

“Do you want me to read some more ‘Peter Pan’?” Ben asked, sitting back. “It’s not too much trouble.”

“Ok. But don’t strain yourself.” Clem narrowed her eyes at him in warning.

Ben chuckled softly as he picked up the book, moving back to get comfortable on the bed. Clem climbed up next to him and took her usual place curled into Ben’s side. He flipped to the beginning of chapter 2, where they had fallen asleep.

“Alright, so they just got to Neverland,” Ben said. Clem nodded against his shoulder.

He had a feeling she was going to fall asleep soon. He yawned as he rests back against the pillows and started reading aloud.


	10. Chapter 10

“Clem, hold s-still.” Ben forced out. He moved her head back up before once more trying to get the brush through her knotted locks.

“Ow! Stop pulling so hard!” Clem whined. She tried to move away, only for Ben to hold her in place.

“It’ll hurt less if you hold still!” He finally pulled the brush free of a particularly tough knot, quickly moving on to the next one.

Clementine winced as she gritted her teeth against the pain. The only reprieve she got was when Ben would stop every so often to smooth his hand over her hair as some sort of apology. Clem tried not to hold too much of a grudge against him, knowing it had to be done.

“You know,” Ben started, after a moment. “We wouldn’t have this problem if you’d let me do this more often.”

Clem only rolled her eyes. She shifted slightly the bed, trying to get more comfortable. She knew her hair was overly thick, her dad liked to remind her of that thought.

“My sister didn’t like to have her hair brushed either,” Ben laughed at the memory. “My mom used to chase my little sister around the house to brush her hair.”

“I always liked when my mom would do my hair.” There was a wistful look on Clem’s face.

Ben’s mind was assaulted with memories of their escape from the Marsh House. Clem’s reaction to finding out her parents’ fate was forever burned into his memory. His thought wandered to memories of his mother. He was much closer to her than his dad.

“Moms are pretty good at brushing hair,” Ben tried to joke. He focused back on Clem’s hair. “I’m almost done.”

“ _ Finally _ .” Clem sigh dramatically. “You’ve been brushing  _ forever _ !”

Ben rolled his eyes. “It’s been five minutes.”

Clem stuck her tongue out at him, crossing her arms in a pout. Ben just laughed as he finally set aside the brush. He pulled the purple hair ties from around his wrist and pulled Clem’s hair into two pigtails. Ben grabbed Clem’s hat and plopped it down on her head.

“There, all done.” He teased.

“Can we go now? If we take any longer they’re gonna leave without us.” Clem hopped off the bed. Luke and Nick had invited the pair to come with them down to the river to check and set up traps. Clem was much more excited than Ben was, but he was still happy to be included.

“Hang on,” Ben moved to the chair in the corner on the room where his hoodie and lettermen were. He picked up the faded red hoodie, tossing it to Clem. “You need a jacket.”

“Ben, it not cold outside,” Clem held up the article of clothing.

“It’s cold enough.” Ben tugged on his lettermen. “You’ll be happy to have that once we’re outside.”

Clem sighed before tugging the hoodie on and zipping it up. Ben fought a smile as he looked the girl over. The hoodie was much too big for her, completely covering her hands and ending just above her knees. The red fabric swamped her small frame, making her look smaller.

“I look ridiculous.” She grumbled, fixing her hat. She tugged at the sleeves, trying to uncover her hands.

“Yeah,” Ben laughed as he knelt down in front of her and started folding the sleeves up. “But it’s cute.”

Clem shoved at his shoulder with a huff. The teen just laughed and continued to fix the hoodie over Clem. “There you go.”

“Now can we go?” Clem was already heading for the bedroom door.

“Yes, we can go now.” Ben grabbed his bat from where it rested by the bed and followed Clem out of the room.

————

“That, uh, that hoodie big enough for you?” Luke snickered. The group were walking down the wooded path to the river. Nick and Luke leading the way while Ben and Clem trailed behind a couple of paces. Clem stuck her tongue out at him making the man laugh. Ben bit his lip to keep from smiling as he glanced down at her. Clem noticed his amused look and shot a glare at him. Ben snorted and turned forwards again.

“Shut up,” Clem grumbled, her cheeks heating up. She crossed her arms with a huff.

Despite how she looked a bit ridiculous, she had to admit that she was warm. There was the faint smell of Ben still on the jacket and it made her feel safer in a way. She curled his fingers into the red fabric, pulling it closer to herself. She pointedly refused to look at the companions as she heard faint snickering from them.

The group soon arrived at the river, splitting off into two groups: Ben with Nick and Clem with Luke. Every now and then Ben looked up to check on Clem, making sure she was still in sight.

“She’s ok,” Nick chuckled. He didn’t look up from the trap he was working on, passing fish to Ben to put in the cooler they had brought along. “She’s pretty firey. She fought tooth and nail to stay with you while you were knocked out.”

“That was the first time we were separated in almost two years.” Ben wished away the memories of the last time they had been separated that assaulted his mind.

“You’re doin’ a good job.” Nick finally turned to the teen. “Raising her I mean. It can’t be easy taking care of a kid on your own.”

“I got lucky. Clem’s not too hard to take care of.”  A warm feeling filled Ben’s chest at the afferent that he was taking care of Clem well. He looked over that the girl who was now setting up a trap in the shallow water. “Sometimes to feels like she takes care of me.”

“You take care of each other. It’s sweet.” Nick smiled as he set the trap back in the water and securing it in place.

“Hey, Nick,” Luke called, gaining the duo’s attention. He quickly made his way over to the two, Clem not far behind. He was holding a beat up leather notebook. It was faded along the spine and edges and a tattered black ribbon stapled to it to hold it closed. Though not it was untied. “I found this journal on the river’s edge. The words are a bit smudged, but it could still belong to one of Carver’s people,”

Ben looked closer at the book before blurting out; “My journal!” He hadn’t even noticed on it was missing.

“See? Told you.” Clem said, crossing her arms in annoyance.

“How do we know it’s yours?” Nick raised a brow at the teen.

“Look,” Ben reached for the journal, taking it from Luke’s hold. He opened it and flipped the wrinkled pages to the drawing of him and Clementine. The pencilling was smudged and Clem still had her dress and hoodie on but it was clearly them. “See? That’s me and Clem. Our names are right there.”

Luke came forwards to look closer at the picture and writing. He rested his hand on Nick’s shoulder as he leaned back. “I did find it not far from where we found Ben.”

“We should still see if there’s anything about Carver in there,” Nick said as he turned to his friend.

“Clem and I aren’t with Carver. I told you that already.” Ben defended. He didn’t like the idea of someone he barely knew going through his journal, he got self-conscious when Clem would go through it despite her not being able to read well. Ben held the journal to his chest in a protective manner. “Besides...I-I have some personal stuff in here.”

As if sensing his anxiety, Clem moved to stand in front of Ben as if to protect him. She glared at the two men in front of her as if daring them to try something. Luke raised his hands in mock surrender. Ben slowly uncurled a hand from around the notebook and rested it on Clem’s shoulder. Her shoulders slumped but he could still feel some tension in her form.

“Alright, we’ll trust you on this,” Luke said finally.

“Thanks,” Ben mumbled. He loosened his grip on his journal.

Clem relaxed as well but stayed in front of Ben. Nick shot his friend an annoyed look but didn’t say anything.

“We should head back,” Luke turned to take hold of the cooler, Nick taking the other side. “We have enough here for dinner.”

Ben nodded, removing his hand from Clem’s shoulder for her to quickly take hold of. He caught sight of Nick’s faint smile as he passed the kids. Ben looked away as his cheeks heated up and quickened his pace back to the cabin. Only sounds he heard were crows overhead and Clem’s laughter next to him.


	11. Chapter 11

“Clem, wake up.” Ben’s voice drifted through her sleep-addled mind. She could hear the smile in his voice. A hand gently shook her shoulder and she groaned. Finally cracking open her eyes, Clem rolled over to face the teen sitting on the end of the bed.

“What…?” She murmured tiredly. His next words woke her up.

“Happy birthday.”

Ben’s smile was almost blinding and Clem felt a smile tug at her lips. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“How do you know it’s my birthday?” She asked.

“I was helping Rebecca with her calendar and noticed that it was the third week of September,” Ben answered, smiling even more.

Despite how they had celebrated their birthdays during their travels, it still felt weird to Clem to have birthdays nowadays. Ben’s excitement was making her excited for today. She allowed Ben to pull her out of bed and lead her by the hand out of their room and down the stairs. The group was gathered in the living room, smiling when the duo came down of the landing.

“Happy Birthday, Clem!” Rang through the room. Sarah’s voice rang out the loudest.

Sarah met them at the bottom of the stairs, wrapping Clem up in a tight hug. Clem was taken aback for a second before returning the hug just as tightly. Ben smiled as he stepped back. He was happy that Clem had a friend closer to her age. As close as they were, Ben knew Clem needed people her age to be around. Sarah broke the embrace and wrapped his hands around both their wrists, careful not touch the scaring bite on Clem's forearm, and pulled the two over to the couch. Ben sat to one side of Clem while Sarah sat on her other side.

“So we can’t necessarily throw you a party,” Pete started, with a chuckle. “But we could go fishing at the river.”

“It was fun when we went yesterday.” Clem nodded excitedly. “I’d like to learn how to fish.”

“I guess that settles it then.” Ben laughs. He seemed to remember something then and reached for the inside pocket of his Varsity jacket. Clem watched curiously as Ben pulled out a small rectangle. Her eyes widened as she saw what it was. It was a box of crayons. “I found these a while back. I wanted to wait until your birthday to give you these.”

Clem gasped as she took the crayons from Ben. “Thank you, Ben!” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a tight hug.

Ben returned the hug with a soft chuckle. He pulled back after a couple of seconds, reaching up to fix her lopsided hat. He gave the bill a light tap. Clem rolled her eyes and swotted at the teen’s hand.

“So, should we head out?” Ben asked, looking between Clem and Pete.

“Yeah, now’s a pretty good time to catch anything,” Pete stood from the other couch, stretching out his back.

“Can I come along?” Sarah asked brightly.

Before Clem could agree, Carlos cut in; “No, Sarah. You can Hang out with Clem when she returns.”

Sarah slumped and nodded, sinking back into the couch. Ben opened his mouth to respond but decided against it. He instead offered Sarah a sympathetic smile when she turned her head in his direction. He didn’t understand why Carlos was so overprotective of Sarah. Ben knew full well he could be overprotective of Clementine, he knew she could take care of herself and knew when to step back.

Ben shook his head before climbing to his feet. Clem followed close behind him, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. Pete and Nick split off from them to collect fishing gear before meeting the kids at the back door.

“Ready to head out, you two?” Nick asked, adjusting the bag strap over his shoulder.

Ben grabbed his baseball ball from by the door before nodding. Clem tugged on Ben’s red hoodie before wrapping her hand around his. The air outside was crisps and not too cold, a perfect day to go fishing. Pete and Nick led the way down the path.

“Ever been fishin’ before?” Pete asked, looking over his shoulder at the kids.

“My dad tried to take me once but…” Ben trailed off, as he looked off to the side.

Clem looked up at the teen with a raised eyebrow. She didn’t comment though, tightening her grip on his hand.

“I used to take this one fishin’ when he was about your age,” Pete looked back at Clem as he pointed to Nick walking next to him.

Nick rolled eyes, walking head. As the river came into view, the group froze at the sight in front of them. Bodies littered the river bank, both Walkers and humans.

“Wait- those are the guys who attack our camp!” Ben exclaimed.

“I’ll go over to the other side, you three stay here and look for survivors!” Pete quickly made his way across the river.

Before they could do anything the groans of the dead filled the air. Ben pulled Clem to him as Walkers ambled into their clearing. He tightens his hold on his bat. Nick shot at the closest Walkers, Ben swinging at Walkers that were now coming from the other direction. He looked toward Pete as a Walker on the ground grabbed the man and bit into his ankle. Ben stiffened as he watched, unable to do anything. They were quickly becoming surrounded.

“Ben! Help Nick, I’m going to go help Pete!” Clem Exclaimed.

“Clem, wait-” Before Ben could stop her, Clem was already halfway across the river.

“She fine!” Nick grabbed Ben’s arm and started tugging him away from the river. “She’s with Pete, we need to go!”

Ben struggled against Nick, but the man was too strong and pulled him away from the river. Ben could only watch as Clem disappeared into the woods with Pete, Walkers swarming the bank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like cliffhangers....
> 
> Also... come join us on discord :)))  
> https://discord.gg/ru49T3W
> 
> Comments and feedback are greatly welcomed


	12. Chapter 12

Ben struggled against Nick grip on his arm as he shouted at him; “Let me go, Nick!”

“Ben, shut up!” Nick continues to pull Ben through the woods. 

The river had disappeared from their sight minutes ago. The sounds of the Walkers that filled the forest weren’t enough to stop Ben from fighting against Nick. The man just tightened his hold and did his best to ignore the teen. The groans of the dead grew louder as they grew closer to the duo. That detoured Ben a bit, his struggling going weak. 

Nick pulled Ben up to what looked like a shed and pushed Ben inside, Slamming and blocking the door behind them. Ben crumbled to the floor, bringing his hands up to tangle in his hair. Nick left him be for a minute as he looked around. 

“I- I need to get to Clementine!” Ben stammered. He looked towards the blocked door. He can feel his anxiety rising quickly. 

“Ben, she’s fine!” Nick yelled. He was going through the shelves surrounding them. “Besides, we can leave with all those damn Lurker everywhere. She’s with Pete, she’ll be fine..

“But- But P-Pete was b-bitten!” Ben cried. He was shaking now.

“Turns out this place is a whisky still.,” Nick completely ignoring what Ben said. He held out a jar of liquid. “Here maybe this’ll help you.”

“Um...You know I’m only 17 right..?” Ben took the jar anyways and looked it over, a bit unsure. He could practically feel Lee glaring at him to taking the drink.

“So? One drink isn’t gonna hurt ya.” Nick sat down with his own jar. He leaned back against a shelving unit as he popped open the lid.

Ben hesitated for a moment before doing the same. The strong smell of alcohol hit his nose, making him wince. He looked to Nick how was busy drinking the whiskey, watching him for a few seconds before looking down at his own drink. He hesitated for a moment before taking a sip from the jar. The whiskey burned his throat and Ben coughed painfully.

“Never drank whiskey before?” Nick teased. He sounded more relaxed.

“N-no…” He coughed. “Ne-never really tried alcohol before..”

Ben tried to clear his burning throat. He sat down the jar next to him, wrapping his arms around himself. He looked back at the door, his whole body tense.

“Relax kid…” Nick drawled.

‘ _ How is he already getting drunk _ …’ Ben thought, watching him.

He turned away to watch the door and tried to ignore the sounds of the dead just outside. Ben hugged his knees to his chest, resting his head on top. He felt jittery. Ben didn’t like being away Clementine. He spaced out, thinking of where Clem was and hoping she was safe.

A crash from the other side of the room startled Ben out of his thoughts. He jerked his head to his companion who was throwing empty jars against the wall, making them shatter loudly. Ben jumped at another loud crash. The Walkers outside started making more noise.

“N-Nick, stop!” Ben stammered. “The Walkers can hear you!”

Nick didn’t say anything and continued throwing jars at the wall. Ben didn’t know what to do.

“Nick, please-- stop!”

Nick lifted his hand to throw another jar but stopped himself, lowering his hand to his lap. He hung his head, unscrewing the cap of the jar.

“I had to kill my mom…” His voice was soft. “It sounds weird, saying that out loud…”

Ben nodded and stayed silent. He stood to slowly walk over to the man.

“And now Pete... It’s happened to everyone I’ve known.” Nick sighed, taking a swig of whiskey. “I wish I could be like Luke… he just keeps going, no matter what. Nothing stops him…”

“I had a… friend, like that.” Ben looked away.

Nick just nodded, not looking at the teen. He took another drink before sitting the container. Ben sat next to him, resting his back against the wall.

“My friend… Travis was always pushing me.” Ben started. “Always had a scheme and dragged me along with him.”

Ben wrapped his arms around himself, gripping onto his sleeves. Nick didn’t look at him, instead of looking down at his lap. He brought the whisky up to his mouth to drink again.

“Travis helped me come out of my shell, and to keep going… even when it got hard.” Ben turned to look at Nick. “I’ve never been brave or all that good at anything--”

“You’re raising a child on your own.” Nick interrupted. “Doin’ a good job too.”

“Clem would do just fine on her own. She doesn’t really need me.”

“You’re her brother. She does need you.” Nick finally turned to face the teen.

“No, I’m not.” Ben sighed, rubbing his eyes. “I’m just some teenager she got suck with…”

“Well y’all act like siblings, I’d say that makes you siblings,” Nick said with an air of finality.

Ben decided not to argue. He looked around the small room, trying to find a way out. The sounds of Walkers outside had settled but it was easy to see there were still some around.

“We need to get out of here.” Ben stood, looking around for any way out without unblocking the door. He looked out the small window to look around outside. There were still Walkers out there but not too many. “Come on, Nick. We need to go.”

Nick didn’t respond. Ben sighed in growing annoyance. He was getting out of here. Ben started pushing the crates and boxes aside to get to the door. He slowly pushed the door open and peeked out. There were a few walkers a few feet from the door. 

Ben raised his bat, slowly inching towards the Walkers. The closest one turns towards Ben and reached out to the teen. Ben swung, nailing it in the head. Before he could regain himself, the second Walker grabbed his bat, yanking Ben forwards. He was brought off balance and fell to the ground hard, hitting his head. He felt dizzy and his vision doubled. The Walkers came close to him but were nailed in the head before they could do anything. Ben looked up as another jar went flying into the Walkers’ head.

Nick came running up to Ben and started pulling him up. “Come on!”

Ben could do nothing but follow as Nick pulled him along. Ben’s vision started to darken around the edges. He could see the cabin coming into view before his vision darkened completely.

————

When Ben came to, he was laying in bed and the sun was going down. He took a couple of minutes to try and focus his vision before shooting up in bed.

“Clementine!” He cried. His vision doubled and extreme dizziness came over him. 

Carlos came running into the room, having heard Ben yell. He grabbed Ben’s shoulders, pushing the teen back down. 

“Ben, you need to calm down.” Carlos spoke, trying to relax the struggling teen.

“Where’s Clementine?!” Ben pushed himself up again, trying to stand. “I-I need to find her!”

He finally got out of the man’s hold and stood. He felt lightheaded but ignored it in order to get to the door.

“Benjamin, you need to rest. You’ve been out for hours.”

“And apparently Clem’s been  _ missing _ for those hours!” Ben stumbled out the door as Carlos followed after him. He sped down the stairs and towards the back door, ignoring Sarah and Luke now calling after him too. 

Ben slammed the door open and was about to go down the stairs when a small figure came out of the tree line. It was dark but he could barely make out a D on the person’s hat. Ben jumped down the stepped and fell to his knees, engulfing Clem in his arms.

“Clem! A-are you okay?!” Ben pulled back to look her over, checking for any injuries. 

“I-I’m okay.” She was shaking and gripped onto Ben’s sleeves tightly.

“Clementine? Where’s Pete?” Rebecca came out onto the back porch, looking over the railing at the kids.

Clementine looked away. She tightened her hold on Ben, curling into his chest. The other’s had come out onto the porch now, looking down at them. Clem was quiet for a long time before speaking.

“P-Pete is dead…”


	13. Chapter 13

Everyone was quiet for a long time. Ben stiffened as the words left her mouth, tightening his hold around her. Clem was quiet, her head on Ben’s shoulder as she looked at the ground.

“What do you mean Pete’s dead?” Luke’s voice broke the silents. 

“He was bit... Back at the river.” Ben didn’t look at the group, focusing on Clem. He had taken off her hand to fix her pigtails a bit.

“Where is he?” Nick came down the steps towards the kids.

“In-in a van not far from here. I-I couldn’t get him back here…”

“Take me to him.” Nick came over to Ben and Clem.

“What? Nick, it’s dark out and Clem  _ just  _ got back.” Ben partly turn to the man, holding Clem protectively.

Clem pulled away from Ben, adjusting her hat on her head. She ran her fingers along the brim as she turned to face Nick.

“I-I’ll take you to him.” Clem refolded the sleeves of Ben’s hoodie. “He’s not far from here…”

Ben stood from the grass. “I’m coming too.”

“Ben, your concussion--”   
  
“If Clem goes,  _ I _ go.” He cut off Carlos, looking over at the man.   
  
“Benjamin--”   
  
“I’m going!” Ben argued. 

He stood next to Clem, crossing his arms. Clem hesitated before reaching up to take Ben’s hand. Ben held it, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. Clem held his hand tight as if it would be enough to ease the teen’s anger.

Carlos and Ben stared each other down before the older eye contact. “Clementine, make sure Ben does not strain himself. He still has a concussion.”

Clem nodded and tightened her hold on Ben’s hand. “I’ll take you to Pete. It’s just across the river.”

Nick, Luke and Alvin followed when Clem started off back to the river, still holding Ben’s hand tight. Ben held just as tight, his other hand on the pocket knife in the pocket. Luke shined his flashlight around, lighting up small parts of the darkened woods.

Clem led the way and they soon came upon a run-down van. Nick came forward and threw open the back doors to climb inside. Luke rushed to follow him, shining his light into the van. Clem and Ben stayed back with Alvin, the kids have seen enough death to know what was in there. Alvin rested his hands on their shoulders. Nick came back out. There was a grim look on his face and Clem looked away from him. 

“He’s been shot in the head…” Nick didn’t look at anyone.

“Clem, did you run into anyone else out here?” Alvin asked gently.

“No…”

Ben knew what that meant and tightened his hold on her hand.

“I-I shot Pete. He- he was bit a-and I could get h-him back to th-the cabin...” Clem kept her gaze on the ground.

Nick didn’t say anything as he hopped out of the van. Luke went to put his hand on his shoulder, but Nick pulled away from him.

Luke frowned. “We should get the others so we can bury him.”

Ben mutely nodded, holding onto Clem. Nick walked past them, not looking at either of the kids and headed back to the cabin. Ben followed a ways behind him with Clem, Alvin and Luke behind them. The group was quiet on the way back to the cabin, nothing could be heard but the sounds of animals that were still around. 

They got back to the cabin and soberly enter through the backdoor. Sarah came running up to them, looping her arms and Ben and Clem’s. Ben tried to smile at the girl but couldn’t muster up much. Luke and Nick went off to talk to the others. 

“Did you find Pete?” Sarah asked, looking between the two.

“Yeah…” Ben looked away.

Sarah frowned but before she could say anything, footsteps sounded from down the hall and the others appeared from around the corner. 

“We’re going to bury Pete.” Luke’s voice was soft. “Ben, Clem, you two should stay back here.”

The two nodded in agreement. They didn’t really know Pete and knew it was for the best if they didn’t go.

“Sarah, you too. It is too far from the cabin and it’s not safe.” Carlos explained.

“She was friends with Pete, right?” Clem looked up at the man. “She should get to go!”   
  
“No, it’s dark and not safe. She’s staying here with you two.” Carlos’ voice had an air of finality to it.

Sarah just nodded and left to go upstairs. Ben frowned and opened his mouth to argue.

“Benjamin, I do not tell you how to raise Clementine. Do not tell me how to raise my daughter.”

Ben huffed and looked away. “Fine.”

Clem glared at the man before walking off to the living room. 

“The front door is locked, do not open it for anyone but us.” Carlos explains. “And don’t go outside for anything.”

Ben nodded. “Got it. I’ll keep an eye on Sarah while you’re gone.”   
  
“Thank you.” Carlos relaxed a bit.

That group left and Ben headed to the living room with Clem.

\------

It was almost twenty minutes before Sarah came down and into the living room. She sat down between Clem and Ben on the couch. She was quiet, looking down at her lap as she played with her fingers.

“Hey, Sarah.” Ben looked down at the girl.

“Hey.” Her voice was soft. 

“Is there… is there anything you wanna do?” Clem awkwardly asked.

She thought for a moment before her face lit up. “Yeah! Come with me.” 

She grabbed Ben and Clem’s hands and pulled them up the stairs. She led them into her room before letting down to grab something. Before Ben or Clem react, a bright flash went. The two blinked for a moment, trying to clear their vision. 

Sarah giggled as she shook a polaroid. When the photo developed she smiled. “Look!”

Ben took the polaroid from her, smiling in amusement. The photo was of him and Clem looking startled, though he could see a faint smile forming on their faces. He frowned a bit at how ragged he looked. His hair had gotten shaggy in length, his hair curling before his ears and his bangs were getting a bit long. His eyes landed on the forming scar splitting his left eyebrow into two parts. It was the first time he’s seen it. Clem looked better though. She needed a haircut, her pigtails almost reaching her shoulders now. She looked healthier too, through her ambure eyes looked sad. 

“This is a pretty good picture.” Ben smiled a bit. 

Clem looked up at the polaroid. “Yeah.”

Sarah moved to stand with them, holding the camera so it faced the trio. “Say cheese!”   
  
Ben bent down a bit to a closer height with Clem and Sarah. He smiled in amusement at the thought of helping Sarah and Clem feel better. He glanced over at Clem who’s frown looked forced. Ben poked her side, making her giggle as Sarah snapped the photo, a big grin on her face. The photo developed and the three smiled. They looked happy in it. Ben was a bit too tall still, cutting off the top of his head a bit. Movement could be seen out of the window. Sarah peaked out quickly before turning away.

“Luke’s back!” Sarah rushed out the door. “I want to show him the photo of us!”

Ben and Clem followed a moment later. When they got down the stairs, they were confused to see Sarah hiding behind the wall.

“Th-that’s not Luke!” Sarah panicked. “He- he can’t see me! Y-you have to make him go away!”

Ben looked to the door. The outline on a man could be seen through the frosted glass. Loud knocking came from the other side. The man wanted him.  _ Now _ .

“Sarah, go find under your bed. Don’t come out until we say.” Ben instructed. 

Sarah nodded feverishly before bolting up to her room. Clem stood on the stairs, trying to look casual as she leaned against the railing. Ben looked back at her before turning to the door, booming knocked still erupting from the other side. 

‘ _ Do not open it for anyone but us. _ ’

The loud knocking was making seem like he didn’t have a choice in opening the door or not. Ben grabbed his knife in his pocket and as unlocked the door and opened it. The smile on the man’s face unnerved Ben. He was a few inches shorter than Ben.

“Hello there.” The man greeted. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya. My family and I are set up a ways down river. Kind of surprised we haven’t run into each other yet. What’s your name?”   
  


Ben hesitated for a long moment. “Cameron.”

“Cameron? I wouldn’t have thought that for someone as tall as you.” The man laughed.

Ben frowned in annoyance at him.

“Mind if I come in, Cameron?” He was already coming forward, moving Ben aside. He noticed Clem. “And who’s this?”   
  
“I’m Carly.” Clem answered. She picked up on using a fake name, even if Ben was just using his middle name.

“Nice place you got here. Do see a lot of cabins this size out here. Sure could pack a lot of people in here.”

“Just us and dad. He’s out right now, but he’ll back soon.” Clem crossed her arms.

“Dad? Both or--”

“Both. We’re siblings.” Ben gestured between him and Clem.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to imply anything. He left you two all alone? He must trust you.”   
  
“Cam’s in charge.”

The man nodded, looking around the cabin. Like he was looking for someone. 

“I’m looking for some of my people, seven to be exact.”

He started rattling off descriptions and Ben could put a face to each one. The man wandered into the kitchen and Clem and Ben quickly followed behind him.

“Looks like a damn tornado came through here. And you say it’s just you two and your dad?”   
“We um, don’t do the dishes that often. We were just getting to do clean up.” Ben awkwardly explained.

The man didn’t look like he believed him, like he was just playing along. He nodded, leaning against the counter.

“Are you passing through? Don’t tell me you’re some of those crazy people heading up north to some ‘safe haven’. You got a good set up here.”

“Just passing through.” Ben crossed his arms. “Headin’ north.”

“Lot of people heading that way. Don’t know why though.”

A floorboard creak loudly above them. The man looked up before looking at the pair and heading for the door. Clem and Ben looked at each other with shared concerned looks before rushing after the man. They tried to tell him it was just the wind or a squeal and he shushed them harshly.

He entered Sarah’s room and looked around. Clem saw Sarah under the bed and smiled weakly at the girl. The man knelt down to pick something up. He showed it to Ben and Clem. It was the polaroid of them and Sarah.

“Just you and dad, hm?” 

“Y-yeah… us and dad.” Ben stiffened. “She passed through over a week ago.”

The man nodded, not looking like he believed Ben at all. He handed the polaroid to him and as he passed, stopped to Ben.

“Oh, and Cameron. Next time you want to use a fake name... Be careful of what’s on your jacket, Ben.”

Ben went rigid, looking down at his letterman. He had forgotten about it.

“Right.” Ben nodded, taking the polaroid.

“Just a suggestion.” The man smiled eerily at the teen. “Well, I’ll be going. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”   


“Wait, who are you?” Clem called after him. 

The man didn’t answer Clem question and bid the two goodbye. He left through the front door, leaving them alone. They stood at the top of the stairs for a long time before going back into the room. 

“I-is he gone?” Sarah peaked out that them with wide eyes.

“Yeah, you can come out.” Ben sat down on the bed with a sigh.

Sarah came out from under the bed. She was shaking and her eyes were wide with panic.

“He- he saw the photo of us! He- he…” 

“Sarah- Sarah, you need to breathe." Ben gently took hold of her shoulder. She flinched but didn’t pull away. He turned her to face him. “Do as I say okay? Breath in.”

Sarah’s breath was shaky but she did as Ben said. Ben smiled encouragingly at her. “Now hold it.”

She did. Ben smiled at her. “Now breathe out.”

She breathed out, letting her shoulders slump. She curled her fingers into Ben’s jacket sleeve. Ben shushed her and pulled her forward, hugging her. Clem joined in, hugging the older girl from behind. Sarah curled her fingers into the back of Ben’s jacket, holding tight. 

The sound of a door opened downstairs startled the children. Carlos’s voice sounded from downstairs and they relaxed. Sarah pulled away from Clem and Ben and bolted down the stairs. Ben and Clem followed after her. Sarah was already in the kitchen, hugging her dad tight.

“A man was here! He- he saw the picture of me, Ben and Clem!” She cried into his shirt.

“What?!” Carlos shot around to scold Clem and Ben. “What did I say about  _ not _ opening the door? And you were taking pictures?!”

“That was coming in weather I opened the door or not!” Ben argued. “And this picture. We only took this one and there’s on of just me and Clem.”

He showed the polaroid Sarah had taken of the three. Carlos took it and looked it over.

“The man, did he saw what his name was?” Luke asked. He looked nervous.

“No. But he’s looking for you.” Clem answered.

“Shit… what did he look like?” Nick asked. “Was he wearing a fur-lined coat and had some facial hair?”

Ben and Clem nodded.

“Carver.” Rebeca put her hands over her swollen stomach.

“ _ That _ was Carver?!” Ben’s looked at her in shock.

“We need to leave!” Luke said. The others nodded in agreement. “Ben, Clem, go get your things, we’re leaving  _ now _ .”

They nodded and went to collect their stuff.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long to write  
> I hope y'all like it though :)

The group settled down after a long day of walking. It had been almost five days since they left the cabin. Ben set up his and Clem’s sleeping bags next to each other by the fire. Clem sat next to him, taking her hat off to fit her pigtails. Ben smiled at her.

“We’re supposed to be going to Wellington.” Clem practically pouted.

“We will. That’s still the plan.” Ben smiled at her.

“As long as Carver’s after us, you two are staying with us.” Carlos’ voice sounded from a few feet away.

“Why? He’s not after us. He’s after  _ you _ .” Clementine huffed

“He saw you though.” Luke tried to explain.

“So? He doesn’t know we’re with you guys. We told him Sarah was just someone passing through.”

“You really think he believed that?” Nick raised a brow at them. “He’s smarter than he led you to believe. He was playing along.”   
  
Ben gave a deep sigh. He sat his pack down to use as a makeshift pillow. Sarah sat across the fire from them flipping through a book she had packed. Ben smiled over at her. Sarah noticed him and smiled weakly back at him. 

“How are you doing, Rebecca?” Ben heard Clementine asked.

“I’m fine, Sweetie.” She smiled at her, resting her hands on her stomach. “Just ready for this baby to be here.”

“Do you have an idea of what it is?” Ben asked, looking at Rebecca’s stomach. 

“No, but Alvin thinks we’re having a boy.” Rebecca shook her head in amusement. “I’m happy as long as the baby’s happy and healthy.

Ben smiled at that. The group was settling down now and Ben laid back on his sleeping bag. He could see some stars through the treetops, sparkling overhead. Clem laid beside him, tucking herself into Ben’s side. Ben looped his arm around her shoulders, holding her close. 

“Night, Ben…” Clem was already drifting off.

“Night, Clem.” Ben held her protectively. He turned onto his side and held her in his arms as he finally closed his eyes and drifted off.

\------

It was sunrise when the group packed up and started moving. With one hand, Clem loosely held Ben’s and with the other, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Ben’s tired eyes trailed the tree line, holding his bat tight in his hand.

“Hey, Clem, come check around with the binoculars.” Luke called from up ahead. 

Clem pulled away from Ben and went to take the binoculars from the man. She climbed up onto a large boulder and looked around.   


“There’s a giant drop off and-- a building. Like a big cabin or something!”

“Let me see.” Ben took the binoculars from her and looked. “It’s a ski lodge.”

“Do you see anyone?” Carlos questioned.

“No.” Ben looked around the area. “There’s a bridge.”

“Maybe we should check it out?” Clem suggested.

“Yeah. Clem, come on we’ll check out the bridge.” Luke gestured for her to follow him.

She nodded and hopped down from the boulder. Ben frowned as anxiety twisted in his stomach. 

She noticed and bumped her shoulder against his side with a smile. “I’ll be fine, Ben. Don’t worry.”

“Just stay in my line of sight, alright?” He smiled slightly, tapping her hat.

Clem puffed out her cheeks, narrowing her eyes at Ben. She lightly shoved Ben before following after Luke. Nick followed behind as back up. Ben watched them leave, making sure to keep Clem insight. He started when a hand touched his shoulder. He turned his head to Alvin. 

“She’ll be okay, Ben. Clem’s a tough kid.” Alvin smiled at the teen.

He nodded. “She is. Nick and Luke are with her too.”

“They’ll make sure she--” Alvin was cut off by a gunshot ring out.

Ben’s head shot to the bridge before he took off running. He ignored Carlos and Alvin yelling after him. He got to th bridge quickly, pausing when he saw Nick and Luke yelling at each other. Clem was standing with them, looking startled. 

“What the hell happened?” Ben came over to them.

“Nick shot someone.” Clem had her arms crossed.

“I thought he was gonna shoot you and Luke!” Nick argued.

“He wasn’t going to! He was gonna help us.” Nick snapped at the other man.

Nick looked away with a huff and deep frown. Ben took hold of Clem’s arm, pulling her to him. The rest of the group soon joined them on the bridge.

“We’ll talk about this later. It looks like a snow storm’s coming let's get up to the lodge.” Rebecca started passed them.

Clem over at the edge of the bridge before turning away with a frown. She held onto Ben’s hand tight as they started walking off the bridge to go to the lodge. Snow started to fall, joining what little was on the ground already. Clem scooped some up into her hand to get a closer look.

“Have you ever seen snow before?” Luke asked, as he walked up next to her.

“Not in real life.” She let the snow drop back to the ground. Her hand was a bit red from the cold and she tucked it into the sleeve of Ben’s hoodie. 

“Maybe we can have a snowball fight!” Sarah grinned at the younger girl. 

Clem weakly smiled back and nodded. Ben looked around the mountain as everyone made their way up the path. Suddenly he and Clem were getting pushed towards the back of the group as loud voices erupted from ahead. 

“-Lower your gun and he’ll lower his.” Ben heard Carlos negotiate.

“Fuck that!” An all too familiar voice sounded out. One that Ben and Clem thought they’d never hear again.

The two looked at each other with wide eyes before pushing their way to the front of the group. They stared in awe as Kenny did a double-take at them and lowered his rifle.

“Clementine? Ben?” Kenny blinked at them, like he believes his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Clem pulled away from Ben and rushed over to Kenny who embraced her tightly. Ben watched from where he was frozen in place. Kenny looked over at Ben, looking like he wanted to say something. He didn’t and turned back to Clem and he pulled away to kneel down in front of her, hands on her shoulders.

“I’m assuming you know him?” Luke whispered to Ben.

“He was in our old group…”

Kenny shared soft words with Clem before standing. “Why don’t we talk more inside.”

“Good, I just started dinner.” The man behind Kenny said with a smile. “Come on in.”

Ben came up to stand next to Clem as they all headed for the doors. Clem’s hand curled around Ben’s after a moment. Kenny looked over at the kids, a faint smile on his face. He looked at Ben like he wanted to say something but once again held back. He turned forward as they entered the lodge, a sense of warmth and coziness wrapped around Ben’s form. Though the underlying sense of tension remained.


	15. Chapter 15

Soft holiday music drifted to Ben’s ears as he stepped in with Clementine and Kenny. Clem looked around at the decorations and soft lights strung up on the poles, her eyes trailing to the lit fireplace in a small sitting area. Across the way was a small kitchen and a dining area with picnic tables. 

Walter smiled, turning to face them. “Kenny and Sarita have been saying with me and Matthew for a few weeks now.”

“I’m surprised we never ran into each other…” Ben thought out loud.

Kenny kept going as if Ben had never said anything. “Walter here can make a mean can of beans.” 

“Well why don’t you three catch up while I get some dinner started.”

The rest of the group filed in behind them, looking around in wonder.

“Dad look there’s a christmas tree!” Sarah’s looked excitedly at the tall pine tree standing in the main room.

“Please make yourselves at home. You can leave you things there.” Walter gestured to the long side table along the wall by the door.

“Only if he does.” Nick looked Kenny. 

There was a long silence that followed. Ben looked to Kenny who was frowning deeply at Nick. Kenny turned his head to look at Ben before looking down at Clem.   
  
“Clem, do you trust these people?” Kenny finally spoke.   
  
She didn’t miss a beat. “Yes.”

Kenny nodded and moved to put his rifle on the side table. Ben moved next, putting his backpack and baseball bat down.

  
“I think you three have some catching up to do.” Walter said as the rest of the group was led up to the second floor. 

Kenny nodded and walked with Clem and Ben over to the couch by the fireplace. Clem sat in the center of the couch with Ben and Kenny on either side of her. 

“Still got that old thing huh?” Kenny tapped the brim of Clem’s hat. “And— are you wearing Ben’s hoodie?”

Clem nodded, a smile forming on her face. “He gave it to me to keep me warm.”

“That’s nice.” Kenny smiled. “Y’know, I half expected Lee to walk up next to you. Wasn’t really expecting Ben.” 

Ben frowned, leaning back against the arm of the couch. He was well aware he was the last person most people expected to be about to do something well. Though he thought it debatable if he was taking care of Clementine well.

“I didn’t see Omid and Christa with y’all…” Kenny started.

Clem’s smile fell. “They aren’t with us… it’s been me and Ben since Savannah.”

“Since Sannah? That was, what, almost two years ago?” Kenny looked between the two kids, his eyes lingering on Ben.

“Yeah. Ben got me out of Savannah and took care of me.” Clementine’s smile reformed. “Just like Lee told him to do.”

The man looked to Ben like he was seeing him for the first time. There was a look in his eyes a kin to… respect? Ben pushed that thought aside, menally berating himself. ‘ _ What are you thinking, of course he doesn’t respect you.’ _

Ben looked away, his staring into the warm fire. The woman who led their group to their rooms come over and leaned over the back of the couch, her elbows resting by Kenny’s shoulder.

“Oh, this is my girl Sarita. Ain't she a beaut?” Kenny smiled at Sarita.

“Hello. Ben and Clementine right?” She smiled at the kids. “It’s so nice having another girl here.”

Clementine smiled. “Yeah. It’s been just me and Ben for a while.”

Ben tapped the brim of Clem’s hat, making it tilt down into her face. Clem narrowed her eyes at Ben as righted her hat on her head. 

“Dinner is ready everyone.” Walter called out.

“Hmm, Matty isn’t back yet..” Sarta straightened up.

“He’ll be back soon, Hon.” Kenny smiled at her as he stood from the couch. “He’s probably on his way back now.”

Ben grew wary as he thought back to the man on the bridge. He pushed that thought down as he walked with Clem to the dinning area. He looked around as he was faces with a new cerent problem. Who to sit with.

  
  



	16. Chapter 16

Ben and Clementine had separated, Clem sitting with Kenny while Ben went to sit with Nick and Luke. Ben slowly started eating, glancing over at Clem every couple of minutes. Luke looked back at Clem talking to Kenny before turning back to Ben.

“That Kenny guy, he seems to just disregard you.” Luke raised a brow.

“We, um… didn’t really get along in the past.” Ben looked down at his bowl of beans. ‘ _ One way to put it Ben.. a more accurate way would be he wanted you dead. _ ’

“Well if he tries anything tell us. You’re in our group now and we look out for our own.” Nick said in a voice that held no room for argument.

Ben weakly smiled at the man before going back to eating. Sarita and Walter soon left, talking in huffed voices to each other, and Nick and Luke moved to sit with Clem and Kenny. Luke gestured for Ben to follow when the teen didn’t move. He stood with bowl and moved to sit next to Clem, Luke and Nick sitting on either side of Kenny.

Ben picked up the can of peaches on the table and held it up by Clem’s head. “The girl on the can kind of looks like you.”

The girl gave Ben an unamused look. Ben snickered, sitting the can back on the table. His laughter grew as Clem elbowed him in the ribs. Clem fought back an obvious smile as she started eating.

“So what were you talking about?” Luke awkwardly started.

“Clementine staying here when y’all move on.” Kenny simply said, coming off blunt.

“I told you: if I stay, Ben stays.” Clem spoke firmly, causing Kenny to frown. “We stick together. That’s rule number one.”

“Rule number one?” Kenny looked between the children.

“Some rules Clem and I made up.” Ben awkwardly played with his food, taking a small bite before responding. “Never go alone, always know where the way out is... Always aim for the head...”

“And keep your hair short.” Clem added, looking at Ben. “Speaking of short hair.”   
  
“Yeah, we both need a haircut.” Ben pushed back his long bangs. 

“There’s scissors in the upstairs bathroom.” Kenny gestured towards the stairs leading to the upper landing.

“Come on, please don’t ruin my hair this time.” Clem stood, pulling Ben with her. 

He just shook his head and let her pull him up the stairs.

\--------

Clem sat on the bathroom counter, facing the mirror, as Ben carefully cut her hair. Ben carefully measured out the curls, making sure it all came out the same length. Clementine watched him in the mirror, snickering a bit at Ben biting his tongue in concentration. 

He raised a brow at her; “What are you giggling about?”

“You bite your tongue when you really concentrate.”

Ben’s ears heated up and he ducked down behind Clem to hide it. She snickered into her hand.

“Keep laughing and I’ll cut off all your hair.” Ben looked over Clem’s shoulder to smile at her through the mirror.

“You wouldn’t dare!” She narrowed her eyes at him.

Ben opened and closed the scissors a couple times as he smiled at Clem. She glared at his reflection. He got back to cutting her hair. Despite his ‘threat’, Ben was still careful to cut her hair. The finished product was a bit shorter than he intended but it was still decent and he could pull the hair into two small pigtails. Ben grabbed Clem’s hat from the counter and placed it on her head. 

“There. And I didn’t mess it up this time.” 

“Debatable.” Clem smirked at him, hopping off the counter. “Your turn now.”

He hesitated before handing the scissors over. “I only need my bangs cut.”

She nodded and and Ben sat down on the side of the tub so Clem could reach. She mimicked what Ben had down and measured out the strands. The teen stayed still for her, not wanting to make Clem mess up. She took her time, cutting his bangs to just below his brows. 

Clem looked up at Ben’s bandaged brow. She reached up and gently pressed to make sure the bandaid stayed in place. It was bumping out in places of carefully smoothed it out. Ben leaned away from the touch with a grimace. 

“Sorry, did that hurt..?” Clem’s guilt could be heard in her voice.

“No, no just… tender I guess?” Ben awkwardly finished. He wasn’t sure how to describe how the wound felt. 

Clem nodded, accepting the explanation. At least for now. Ben stood and started cleaning up the hair from the ground and counter. Clem moved to help, tossing chucks into the wastebasket. They soon had all the hair cleaned up and just in time for Sarah to rush in.   
  
“Sarita said we can decorate the tree! Come on!” She was practically bouncing in excitement.

Sarah took hold of Clem and Ben’s wrists and started pulling them out of the bathroom. As the holiday music and chatter filtered up to their ears, Ben and Clem could feel a familiar sense of holiday cheer that they hadn’t felt in what felt like a lifetime.


	17. Chapter 17

“Ben, your height will come in handy for getting the decorations up higher.”   
  
Ben rolled his eyes, starting to hang up ornaments on the tall tree. His eyes trailed over to Nick and Luke talking quietly on the far side of the main room. He turned back to the tree and hang a snowman ornament Sarah was handing him.

“Did you celebrate Christmas before?” Sarita asked him.

“Yeah. I used to help my mom and sister decorate the tree.” He smiled a bit at the memories filling his head. He could practically hear his sister and mother’s laughter. “We’d even make paper snowflakes to hang on the wall.

“And your father?”

Ben turned back to the box of decorations, suddenly frowning. “He and I would, um, hang up lights outside.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bring up anything bad…” Sarita looked genuinely guilty.

“No, it’s fine!” Ben turned to her to quickly try to comfort the woman. “Really, just...um..”

“It’s okay, Ben. You don’t have to explain.” Sarita reached out to gently squeeze his arm in comfort. 

Ben weakly smiled, turning back to the tree. He couldn’t help but think back to his family. His sister would jump on his bed every Christmas morning until he’d get up and let her pull him downstairs. His mom always made french toast for breakfast on the holiday. He could almost smell his mom’s cooking. He missed her…

He shook the thoughts from his head to get rid of the thoughts. He tried to listen to Clem and Sarah happily talking to each other. His attention was pulled away to Luke and Nick who were now looking over at Ben. Luke gestured the teen over to them while trying to be discreet. He came over to them, looking confused.

“What’s going on?” Ben frowned at them.

“We have a problem. The guy Nick killed on the bridged,” Luke looked over at the other man who looked guilty. He held up a framed photo to Ben that made his anxiety rise. “He was Mathew.” 

Ben’s blood ran cold as his heart rate shot up. “W-what do we do..?”

“We need to stay  _ calm _ .” Luke emphasised. 

“W-we need to tell Walter…”  Ben hugged himself, holding his sleeves tight.

“I’m with Ben.” Nick nodded, not looking at his friend next to him.

“What? No! We need to keep this quiet.” Luke quietly scolded them. “Who knows what he’ll do if he finds out.”

Ben made an unconscious noise of nervousness as he tightened his hold on his sleeves. He glanced around the lodge, only now noticing he couldn’t see Walter anywhere. That only helped to skyrocket the teen’s anxiety, a mantra of ‘ _ Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! _ ’ going through his head. Ben nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand gripped his arm. His wide eyes snapped to Luke who was gripping his arm tight.

“Ben you need to _ calm down _ .” Luke whispered. His voice was harsh but he had a gentle look in his eyes. “Take some deep breaths and calm down. You look like you’re gonna bolt any second now.”

Ben honestly felt like running. He could only see this ending badly. 

“H-he probably k-knows already.” Ben stuttered. They should just come clean now, before things go south. ‘ _ Before anyone else dies over a mistake… _ ’

“Ben, shut up for a minute,” Luke snapped at him. He sighed then, squeezing Ben’s arm as an apology. “Go get the knife we got from him, it’s with the other weapons, Nick and I’ll run interference. Get rid of the knife.”

Ben shakingly nodded and pulled away from Luke. His eyes jumped around for any sign of Walter as he made his way down to the weapons. All their weapons were there… except for the knife. Ben looked around on the table and under it, find his and Clem’s bags open when he knew for a fact they were closed when they left them. His breathing picked up as he looked through their bags. A few things looked like they had been touched but not much. Like the desired object was found quickly. 

Ben caught movement in the corner of his eye and slowly turned in its direction. His heart rate skyrocketed when he saw Walter out on the main decking.

Mathew’s knife was in his hands.

Ben tried to steady his breathing as he slowly opened the glass door. He stood in place for a long moment before stepping outside completely and closed the door behind him. He was shaking and his breathing was getting shorter. Walter still had his back to Ben, but there was no way he couldn’t know the teen was there.

“Walter…?” Ben finally managed to get force out.

“I always liked this knife,” Walter said, sounding eerily calm. He unsheathed the knife, what little light there still was bounced off the blade. “Gave it to Mathew when all this started. I know he’s dead.”

Ben kept his eyes trained on the knife in the man’s hand. Walter had yet to turn to Ben so he couldn’t see the man’s expression. That scared him. He couldn’t read the man in front of him and one misstep could get that knife sunk into his chest. Ben’s whole being tense painfully at that thought.

“Who did it? What is that kid? What’s his name… Nick?” Walter demanded. “Heard him talking earlier. Something about shooting a man. When you were cutting Clem’s hair.”

“I-It was us, it’s our fault. I-I’m so sorry, Walter.” Ben’s voice trembled as he choked out the words.

Walter tensed up and was quiet for a long time. His hand tightened on the knife handle and Ben took a step away from the man. Walter blew out smoke from the cigarette Ben only just now noticed in his hand. There was a long tense silence between the two.

“Is Nick a good man?” The older man suddenly asked, startling Ben. He finally turned to face the teen with an expression of anger and grief. He furrowed his brows, staring at Ben intensely. “Or is he just like everyone else? Is he just one of those… those fuckers that don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves?”

Ben shook his head vigorously. “H-He’s a good guy, Walter… He s-saved my life.”

Walter turned away from Ben then, blowing out more smoke. Nick opened the door, looking to Ben before spotting Walter and freezing. He slowly came out to stand next to Ben, meeting Ben’s wide eyes with similar fearful ones.

“What’s going on?” Nick whispered to him.

“Y-you need to tell him.” Ben whispered back. “W-what happened on- on the bridge.”

Walter turned to fully face the pair. The anger from before seemed gone now and only the grief remained.

“Tell me what you did.” Walter’s voice wavered and he closed his eyes. “Just tell me, Son.”

“F-from a distance it looked like anyone. I… I thought he was gonna shoot my friends and I… I shot Mathew. But it happened real fast, I didn’t know if I hit him but I did… I-I’m so sorry, Walter.”

Walter tightened his grip on the knife as he stepped forward. Ben tensed, ready to pull him and Nick out of the way at any moment. Walter stopped then and stood there for a long time before he tossed the knife to the side with a clatter. Ben opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the loud sound of the wind turbine speeding up. 

The rest of the group came outside, looking around confused. Clem came to stand by Ben’s side. She looked at his trembling form over before taking his hand and squeezing it to comfort him. He appreciated it and squeezed back, letting her know he was okay.

“Walt, what’s going on?!” Kenny spoke up, looking towards the turbine. Kenny cursed under his breath. “This storm’s got it spinnin’ outta control! That’s gonna draw Walters! We gotta shut it off!”

Kenny started giving out orders for getting the guns and passing them out, much to Sarita’s disapproval. Ben startled when something was pushed into his hands. He looked down to see Clem was handing him his bat while she took the gun. He tightened his hold on his bat and followed Clem who took after Kenny towards the wind turbine. 

The Wind Turbine was going crazy now. There was a loud explosion before the lights in the lodge blinked and went out.

“Shit, the generator much’ve blown out.” Kenny cursed “I could use a hand getting it back up.”

“I’ll go with you.” Luke stated, stepping forwards.

Kenny nodded. “The rest of you, get this thing shut down.”

Kenny and Luke ran off towards where the generator was housed. Sarita opened up the turbine control panel but it was too dark to see. Ben pulled out a lighter he had found and flicked it open for a flame, lighting up the compartment. 

“Does anyone know how to do this?” Carlos asked, looking between everyone.

“Um, my grandparents had a setup similar to this on their farm.” Ben didn’t know how relevant that was to their current situation. “M-maybe I can try?”

“Okay, we’ll watch you back.” Carlos nodded to him before turning to Nick. “Nick, scan the trees with me.” 

Ben was honestly surprised at how willing they were to just trust him to do this. He shook his head and turned back to the compartment. He looked around for anything before Clem grabbed a key off a hook to the side.

“Maybe this turns it off.” She suggested, handing him the key.

Ben took it and spotted the key hold. ‘ _ There’s no way it’s this easy. _ ’ He was sceptical but willing to try. Ben pushed the key into the hole and turned it, pressing it forward. 

The wind turbine slowed to a stop.

Ben started up at it in disbelief. It was eerily quiet now and Ben looked around for anything. Suddenly the sounds of Walkers could be heard from the tree line. 

“We need to get back to the lodge.” Nick said. 

More Walkers came up behind them, slowly surrounding them. Ben grabbed Clem’s arm pulling her back to him as he tightened his hold on his bat. Nick, Carlos and Sarita started firing at the undead creatures slowly approaching them. 

Ben pulled Clem to cover behind a rock. A Walker grabbed his arm, pulling him backwards. Clem regained herself quickly and shot it in the head before Ben had a chance to do anything. She pulled him this time and ducked down behind a boulder. The group was slowly making their way to the lodge, but a large group of Walkers blocked their path. Ben felt useless with his bat. There were too many Walkers for him to get close enough to swing at one.

Clem was firing at Walkers ahead of them. She managed to take out three before running out of bullets. The remaining Walkers were quickly on them and Ben swung, taking down one before a bullet whizzed by taking out another. Ben startled and whipped around to see Carlos firing at them.

“Get to the lodge!” He yelled to them before running off, taking out another Walker. 

Ben grabbed Clem and ran for the lodge. He took out Walkers on the way, some wood splintering off his weapon. 

“Nick!” Clem yelled, suddenly stopping. 

Ben looked to where Nick was struggling to hold back a Walker. Before either of them could react, the Walker was shot in the head. The trio looked to the source to find it was Walter who fired. He weakly smiled at them before rushing to meet up with the others.

“Ben, take Clem inside! Go!” Carlos yelled to them, firing at a group of Walkers.

Ben didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed Clem’s hand and all but dragged her into the lodge. He shoved open the door and pulled Clementine up the steps to the main landing. Rebecca looked up from the window and looked to them with wide eyes.

“Clementine, Ben, are you okay?” She looked them over in concern.

“Y-yeah we’re--” Clem was cut off by the sound of an automatic rifle going off.

Ben ran to the window to try and see. No one in their group had a gun like that. He ducked down as Clem and Alvin came to kneel next to them. People were coming out of the tree line and gunning down the Walkers in quick succession. 

Rebbeca grasped as the people came into view. “Carver.”

Ben’s eyes widened when he saw the man. Clem’s hand grabbed his arm as he started to panic, her presence helped to calm him slightly. They could hear what was being said, but they could see Carver punch Carlon. Sarah cried out before taking off before anyone could stop her, running out to her dad. 

Carver looked towards the lodge before he and his men started towards the door, bringing everyone with them. They needed to hide. Fast. Rebecca and Alvin quickly head up to the second-floor landing. Ben and Clem got caught off on their way and dived down behind the couch. Ben hand to practically bend in half to be completely hidden. He tucked Clem into his side, holding her tight. 

A woman from Carver's group whistled as she looked around. “Look at his place.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Ben sees Alvin gesturing for them to come up the stairs. Ben stared with wide eyes. There was no way he and Clem could make it over without getting caught. Clem shifted out of his arms, taking Ben’s hands. Ben startled as Clem suddenly yanked him forwards and up to the stairs, going up to the landing.

From the high point of view, the rest of the group could be seen. Everyone was lined up along the front of the kitchenette. Kenny and Luke were nowhere to be seen. Everyone had their hands bound with zip ties. Carver started looking around, looking towards the upper area. Suddenly he turned back to the group and grabbed Carlos, yanking him to the centre of the area. He punched him in the stomach, making Carlos fall to the ground. 

Ben couldn’t make out what Carver had said to Carlos but he was soon grabbing his hand broke one of Carlos’ fingers. Carlos yelled in pain and Sarah cried out.

“Rebecca, our baby deserves to be raised in a place of safety.” Carver called out. “I know you’re out there. And Alvin. And Luke, and the boy and girl. This can be real simple. You want this over quick, you play nice and show your faces.”

Ben tightened his hold on Clem’s hand. Sarah could be heard crying loudly. Rebecca and Alvin started arguing quietly.

“He’ll kill him. We gotta go down there.” Alvin argued.

Rebecca shook her head. “I can’t do that.”

“Bec, the baby, you need a doctor.”

“We have to help Carlos.” Clem chimed in.   
  
“The only way to help is to go down there.” Alvin whispered.   
  
“What about Luke and Kenny? Clem can sneak out-”   
  
“What the hell she gonna do?” Alvin interrupted.

Ben shook his head vigorously, tightening his hold on Clem. There was no way he was going to let her go off on her own. Carlos cried out again as Carver broke another one of his fingers. Carlos started yelling for someone to shoot Carver to pulled a knife to the doctor's throat.

“We have to give up. He’s gonna kill Carlos.” Clem argued. “Come on, Ben. We need to go down there.”

Ben stared at Clem like she had grown another head. Rebecca could see she was losing this argument and sighed. She gave Ben an apologetic look before she stood.

“Bill, stop!” She yelled down to him.

He looked up to her and smiled, tossing Carlos aside. Ben allowed Clem to pull him up and lead him down the stairs. Rebecca led the alway with Alvin close behind her. Carver smiled even more as they got closer. Ben and Clem were pulled away from Rebecca and Alvin and their hands were bound with zip ties before they were roughly pushed to the floor. Rebecca was brought off to stand to the side. Ben leaned over towards Clem as comfort for her.

Ben tried to not think of the last time he had his hands bound together and guns pointed at him.

“Ben, can you reach my hands?” Carlos asked, now bound next to the teen. 

Ben looked to Carlos’s hands, trying not to look at his broken fingers, before looking to Carver and his men. He shook his head. “I can’t. T-they’ll see.”

Carlos sighed. Ben felt guilty for not helping but he didn’t want to make things worse. Suddenly, the sound of a gun going off sounded as the front window broke and one of the guards fell to the ground. A bullet in his head. Everyone jumped and Carver and his group went behind the pillars.

Carver stepped forwards and grabbed Walter by the collar. He pulled him out to the middle of the room and shoved him to the shoved. He shot Walter in the head without a moment’s hesitation. Ben watched with wide eyes as Walter fell to the ground.

“That’s for our man!” Carver yelled out. “Now I didn’t want to do this, but here’s what’s gonna happen; I’m gonna march another one of your friends out and I’m gonna put a bullet in their head. Or you can give up. Your choice.”

“Kenny, stop!” Clem yelled. The pillar Carver was standing behind was shot.

Carver shrugged, looking to Clem who had yelled. He came over and grabbed her arm, pulling her away from Ben. He picked her up and brought her out, putting the gun to her head.

“No! Clementine!” Ben cried. He tried to reach for her but couldn’t with his arms bound behind his back. “Kenny, just fucking stop! Please!”

“Listen to the boy. Be a shame if he had to see his sister die.”

Before he knew it, Ben jumped to his feet and ran at Carver to stop him. The man saw him and nailed in hard in the stomach with his gun. Ben fell to the floor in a coughing fit. He swore he could taste blood. He tried to catch his breath but couldn’t. Fuck it hurt. Ben’s hair was suddenly grabbed and he was yanked up onto his knees by it. Clementine was now on the floor not to him. She looked to Ben with wide, terror-filled eyes.

“I suppose both siblings are going.” Carver said and Ben felt the hard metal of a gun press against the back of his head.

‘ _ I’m sorry, Clem… I really fucked up this time... _ ’ Ben closed his eyes so he didn’t have to see Clem’s grief-stricken expression.

The doors to the lodge opened then and Kenny came through with his arms raised. Carver smiled and Ben and Clem were dragged back over to the others. Kenny was brought up and bound like the others. He was put in Walter’s now empty spot. Ben looked down the line at the man who was looking at Ben like the teen was crazy. Ben looked away.

“I warned you not to follow Luke. look at where he’s led you.” Carver paced in front of everyone. “But you’re safe now. We’re going home, as a family.”

Carver then ordered his people to round everyone up and be taken outside. Ben and Clem were at the back of the line, neither of them looking at each other. Ben found himself looking to Walter left on the ground. ‘ _ He’s with Mathew now _ …’ Ben looked away as everyone was taken out of the lodge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh shit...
> 
> Comments and critiques are always welcomed :)


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